Suicide bomber targets Damascus church, kills at least 20 worshippers; Syria blames ISIS
No group immediately claimed responsibility Sunday, but the Syrian interior ministry said a member of the Islamic State group was behind the attack.
A suicide bomber in Syria on Sunday detonated himself inside a church, killing at least 15 people, AFP reported.
The explosion in Dweil'a in the outskirts of Damascus took place as people were praying inside the Mar Elias Church, according to the Associated Press.
"The number of victims in the terrorist attack that targeted the Saint Elias church in the Dwelaa area of Damascus has risen to 20 dead and 52 wounded," said a health ministry statement carried by state news agency SANA.
No group immediately claimed responsibility Sunday, but the Syrian interior ministry said a member of the Islamic State group was behind the attack.
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"A suicide attacker affiliated with the Daesh (IS) terrorist group entered the Saint Elias church... opened fire, then blew himself up with an explosive belt," the country's interior ministry said in a statement.
Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mostafa condemned the attack, calling it a terrorist attack.
“This cowardly act goes against the civic values that brings us together,” he said on X. “We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship … and we also affirm the state’s pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organizations and to protect society from all attacks threatening its safety.”
What eyewitness said
Lawrence Maamari, who was among those inside the church, told AFP that "someone entered from outside carrying a weapon" and began shooting, adding that people "tried to stop him before he blew himself up".
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Maamari added that he helped move around 10 casualties from the scene, as local residents tried to help the wounded before ambulances and other emergency vehicles arrived.
The attack is the first of its kind since the new authorities took over after Bashar al-Assad's December ouster.
