The official says the bombing took place today in the town of Sabtiyeh, which is east of Homs.
The official, from the Homs province, says it's not immediately clear who the bomber's victims were, how the bomber detonated the explosive nor what group the bomber belonged to. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorised to speak to journalists.
Syria is engulfed in a civil war that has pitted supporters of the government of Bashar Assad against disorganised groups of armed rebels seeking his downfall.
Some of those groups are formed of hard-line Muslims following the extremist ideology of al-Qaida. They have used suicide bombings in the past.