Four people were killed and 19 others wounded Saturday when a booby-trapped car went off in a pro-government district of Syria's central city of Homs, state-run TV reported.

The car with fake plates was detonated at Mwasalat roundabout in Zahra'a neighborhood in Homs, said the report, adding that one kid is in grave condition as a result of the blast.

Zahra'a neighborhood is inhabited by adherents of the Alawite minority and offshoot of Shiite Islam, to whom the ruling elite in Syria belongs.

The neighborhood along with other districts of Homs loyal to the government has suffered from repeated suicide bombings, as well as rocket and mortar fire from rebels entrenched in the countryside of Homs, Syria's third largest city.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based watchdog group that relies on a network of activists on ground, said the death toll is likely to rise due to the large number of critically wounded people.

Source: XINHUA