Media reports said on October 5 that a drone attack on a Syrian military academy in the western city of Homs has killed at least 100 people, a monitoring group says.

The explosive-laden drones reportedly targeted a graduation ceremony attended by cadets' families, and women and children were among the dead.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Syria's defence minister attended the graduation ceremony but left minutes before the attack.

The army blamed "terrorist groups backed by known international forces".

The BBC reported that Syria's state news agency, Sana, quoted a statement from the General Command of the Armed Forces as saying that several drones carrying explosives targeted the Homs military academy just after the afternoon graduation ceremony had ended.

The statement said the armed forces "considers this act an unprecedented criminal one, and affirms that it will respond with full force and determination to these terrorist groups wherever they are".

In a later report the agency quoted Health Minister Hassan al-Gabbash saying the strike had injured more than 200 people and that six women and six children were among the dead.

Al Jazeera reports that Syrian sate-run news agencies updated noting that 80 people were killed in military academy drone attack.

There was no immediate claim from the rebels and jihadists battling the government in the country's civil war.

However, there is a lot of speculation Syrian opposition forces based in Idlib are behind the attack, and government shelling on Idlib since the Homs attack has indicated that is the regime’s working hypothesis.

Suspicion could also fall on ISIL (ISIS) remnants based in Syria’s central desert.