In synchronized attacks, insurgents stormed into heavily guarded security offices in Syria's central Homs city, clashed with troops and then blew themselves up, killing a senior officer and at least 31 others, state media and officials reported.

The swift, high-profile attacks against the Military Intelligence and State Security offices, among Syria's most powerful, were claimed by an Al-Qaida-linked insurgent coalition known as the Levant Liberation Committee, according to AP report.

A Syrian lawmaker on a state-affiliated TV station called it a "heavy blow" to Syria's security apparatuses.

The attacks came as Syrian government and opposition delegates meet in Geneva in U.N. -mediated talks aimed at building momentum toward peace despite low expectations of a breakthrough. The U.N. envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura called the attacks "tragic," it stated.

"Every time we had talks or a negotiation, there was always someone who was trying to spoil it. We were expecting that," he said.

Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, Bashar al-Ja'afari, who leads Damascus' delegation to the peace talks in Geneva, said the attacks were a message from the "sponsors of terrorism" to the peace talks.

Al-Ja'afari said the attacks will not go unanswered, the report added.