Síria: Bombista suicida mata dezenas

BEIRUT, Oct 20 (Reuters) - A suicide bomber driving a truck packed with 1.5 tonnes of explosives killed at least 31 people and wounded dozens in the Syrian city of Hama on Sunday, state media and a monitoring group reported. The man blew himself up inside the vehicle on a busy road on the outskirts of the city in central Syria, the SANA news agency said. It blamed "terrorists", the term it uses to describe rebel forces trying to topple President Bashar al-Assad. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack targeted an army checkpoint but most of the dead were civilians. Syria's 2-1/2-year-old conflict began as peaceful protests but has turned into civil war. More than 100,000 people have died, according to United Nations figures, in fighting that is now spread across most of the country. Rebels have been joined by hardline Islamists, some of them linked to al Qaeda, who have become increasingly powerful among opposition forces. According to the Observatory, the suicide bomber was from the Nusra Front, an al Qaeda affiliate that has frequently used suicide bombers to attack military and political targets. Pictures on Syria TV showed firemen trying to put out huge fires as black smoke rose from charred trucks and cars.