23 killed, 65 injured by shelling in Latakia city, Syria – reports

“Twenty-three people have been killed and at least 65 hospitalized with injuries of varying degrees,” the police source said. 

RT’s Lizzie Phelan reports from Syria that the attack took place in a very densely-populated part of Latakia.

“All of the reports so far are suggesting that all of those killed and injured are civilians,” she said.

The missiles that struck the city were most likely fired from Grad multiple-launch rocket system, Phelan added.

There are conflicting reports on the number of casualties coming from the port city of Latakia at the moment.

Meanwhile AFP cites Syrian state TV as saying there were "22 people killed and 62 wounded" in the attack on eastern neighborhoods of Latakia.

Earlier state news agency SANA reported 12 people died and 57 were injured when two mortar rounds struck residential areas.

One shell reportedly fell near the city university and another hit a bus stop.

Other reports said that two mortars hit near the university, another claimed that one of the mortars hit near a girls’ high school.

Latakia has been largely spared from violence during the four-and-a-half years of the Syrian civil war. A car bombing killing 10 people in September in Hamam Square were a rare occurrence.

The city is known as a stronghold of the Alawite religious group, to which President Bashar Assad belongs.