Twin bombings that targeted a Syrian primary school killed at least 41 children Wednesday, with the second explosion by a suicide bomber going off as distraught parents searched for their children among scattered body parts and bloodied school bags.

The twin explosions appeared to have targeted the children who were leaving the Akrama al-Makhzoumi elementary school after classes in a neighborhood dominated by the Alawites minority.

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Minutes later, the second blast occurred as a suicide bomber drove past parents carrying bodies away.

An unnamed local official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Associated Press that at least 10 of those who died immediately after the first blast were children.

According to SANA state news agency, at least 32 people were left dead and 115 were wounded by the two explosions.

Meanwhile, the Britain-based human rights watchdog, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported 39 deaths, including 30 children 12 years old and under.

AP said the discrepancy in death tolls could not be verified in the immediate aftermath of the attack.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings, but suspicions point at Syrian insurgents who have frequently used suicide bombers during the country's civil war, LA Times reported.

A Syrian representative of the United Nations' Children's Fund, Hanaa Singer, denounced the attacks against the children "despicable," LA Times quoted her as saying.

Homs governor, Talal Barazi, condemned the bombings as a desperate terrorist attack targeting children.

Homs is a central Syrian city reported to be frequently targeted by militant groups fighting the Syrian government. It is largely dominated by an Islam offshoot whose most prominent member is President Bashar Assad.

Al Jazeera reported that horrific attacks against civilians in the past four years of civil war were many. However, the twin bombings in Homs is the first time children were directly targeted.

TagsSyria blasts, Syria bombings, Syrian President Bashar Assad