A suicide bomber in Syria detonated himself inside a church filled with people on Sunday, killing at least 22 and wounding 63, state media reported.
The explosion in Dweil’a on the outskirts of Damascus took place as people were praying inside the Mar Elias Church. SANA, citing the health ministry said at least 53 people were wounded. Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were at least 19 peopled killed and dozens of others wounded but did not give exact numbers. Some local media reported that children were among the casualties.
The attack is the first of its kind in Syria in years and comes as Damascus under de facto Islamist rule is trying to win the support of minorities. As president Ahmad al-Sharaa struggles to exert authority across the country, there are concerns about the presence of sleeper cells of extremist groups in the war-torn country.
No group immediately claimed responsibility on Sunday but the Syrian interior ministry said an extremist from the Islamic State group entered the church, fired at the people there before detonating himself with an explosives vest, echoing some witness testimonies.
Syrian information minister Hamza Mostafa condemned it as a terrorist attack.
“This cowardly act goes against the civic values that bring us together. We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship,” he said on X, “and we also affirm the state’s pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organisations and to protect society from all attacks threatening its safety.”
Interior ministry spokesperson Noureddine Al-Baba said a preliminary investigation pointed to the Islamic State group.
“The security of places of worship is a red line,” he said, alleging that the extremist group and remaining members of the ousted Assad government are trying to destabilise Syria.
Bishop Moussa Khoury said that the attacker threw a grenade, “started shooting, went and then he blew up the church”.
Social affairs minister Hind Kabawat met with the clergy at the church in the evening to express her condolences.
“People were praying safely under the eyes of God,” Father Fadi Ghattas, who said he saw at least 20 people killed with his own eyes. “There were 350 people praying at the church.”
A witness who identified himself as Rawad told the Associated Press he saw the attacker accompanied by two other men who fled as he was driving near the church.
“He was shooting at the church,” he said, “he then went inside the church and blew himself up.”
However, Meletius Shahati, a church priest, said there was a second gunman who shot at the church door before the other person detonated himself.
Security forces and emergency responders rushed to the church. Panicked survivors wailed, as one lady fell to her knees and burst into tears. A photo circulated by Syrian state media SANA showed the church’s pews covered in debris and blood.
