Rebel rocket attack kills dozens in Syria

DAMASCUS, Syria -- Rebels sent a wave of rockets slamming into regime strongholds in the central city of Homs yesterday, triggering a succession of massive explosions in a weapons depot that killed at least 40 people and wounded dozens, an opposition group and residents said.

The attack, one of the most potent against pro-government districts in the area, overshadowed a rare trip by President Bashar Assad to a former opposition bastion outside the capital, Damascus, during which he defiantly vowed in front of troops to defeat the rebels fighting to topple him.

The huge explosion in the Wadi Dahab district of Homs delivered a jolt to the regime, which for weeks has been boasting of achievements against the rebels in the Homs region and in the Damascus suburbs.

"The achievements on the ground speak for themselves," Assad told soldiers in Daraya, a few miles south of the capital. "Without you we would all be slaves to the countries that want to subjugate us. But the Syrian people will never be slaves. Not in the past, present or future."

The attack in Homs targeted the neighborhoods of Zahra, Akrama and Wadi Dahab, which are all populated mostly by Alawites, the same sect as Assad's.

It showed that rebels fighting to oust Assad are still able to strike back despite significant advances by the military that have bolstered the regime's confidence.

The blasts sent a massive ball of fire and a black mushroom cloud into the sky and caused widespread damage and panic among residents, many of whom are supporters of Assad.