Almost 40 people have died in a series bomb blasts in government-controlled areas of Syria this morning, local media has reported.

It is reported the blasts struck Tartus, Homs, the suburbs of Damascus and the city of Hasaka.

Dozens of people have also been injured.

Syrian state television says at least one of the attacks was set off by a suicide bomber.

Quoted by Al Jazeera, state broadcasters said: "Two terrorist blasts on Arzuna bridge [in Tartus], the first a car bomb and the second a suicide bomber who detonated his explosive belt when people gathered to help the wounded." 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a "massive explosion" was heard in Homs, targeting a regime checkpoint at an entrance to the al-Zahraa neighborhood.

It is not yet clear if the bombs were coordinated, and nobody has yet claimed responsibility.