14 people killed in reprisals over Homs's twin car bombs

At least 14 people were killed in Homs when forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad opened fire on their bus Wednesday evening, hours after twin car bombs hit the Alawites neighborhoods in the city, leaving 21 dead, activists reported the massacre as reprisals.

Activists said the massacre was a brutal revenge act, where the 14 victims were mostly Sunnis from the embattled neighborhoods of Homs. 

Homs has witnessed recently sporadic clashes between the pro and anti-Assad neighborhoods. 

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the explosions took place in area was inhabited largely by Alawites, the Shi'ite Islam-derived sect of President Bashar al-Assad. It put the death toll at 21, Reuters reported.

The explosions "caused heavy damage to citizens' property, homes, stores and cars in the neighbourhood," the observatory said.

Syria's conflict has killed over 150,000 people and forced millions more to flee their homes.