Suicide attack at Damascus church kills at least 20; Syria blames Islamic State

A suicide bomber opened indiscriminate firing and then detonated himself inside a church filled with people in Syria on Sunday, killing at least 20 people, local 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 that many others were wounded. Britain-based war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said 30 people were wounded and killed but did not give exact numbers. Some local media outlets reported that children were among those killed. Syrian authorities said 20 people were killed and 52 were injured.
The attack comes as Damascus is trying to win the support of minorities under its de facto Islamist rule.

There have been concerns about the presence of sleeper cells of extremist groups in the war-torn country, and though no group claimed responsibility immediately, the Syrian Interior Ministry said an extremist from the Islamic State group wearing an explosives vest had entered the church, fired at the people there, and then detonated himself.

A witness told media that he saw that the attacker was accompanied by two others who fled.

“He was shooting at the church … he then went inside the church and blew himself up,” he said.

Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mostafa condemned the incident, calling it a terrorist attack.

“This cowardly act goes against the civic values that brings us together,” he said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

A photo circulated by Syrian state media SANA showed the church’s pews covered in blood and debris.

“The terrorist infiltrated Mar Elias Church, opened fire, and then blew himself up using an explosive belt,” the ministry stated. Earlier, local media had reported that 25 people were killed.

The Syrian civil defence said in a statement that the attack killed “more than 15 people and a number of wounded, according to a preliminary toll”.