At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured in a bomb attack on a church in the Syrian capital Damascus. The explosion occurred as people were praying inside the Mar Elias Church in Dweil'a on the outskirts of the Syrian capital.
A suicide bomber carried out an attack inside a church full of people in Syria, according to officials from the Syrian Ministry of Health and Security.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Syrian Interior Ministry said a militant from the Islamic State (ISIS) group entered the church, opened fire on people inside and then blew himself up with a vest carrying explosives.
“Rescue teams from the Syrian Civil Defense continue to recover bodies from the scene,” Telegram said on Sunday.
At least 50 people were injured, official government agency SANA said, citing the Health Ministry.
According to some local media reports, there were children among the missing.
The attack was the first of its kind in Syria in recent years and comes as the fledgling interim government led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa seeks to win support from minorities.
As al-Sharaa struggles to assert authority across Syria, there are concerns about the existence of sleeper cells from groups such as ISIS, which have survived nearly 14 years of devastating civil war in the country that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions.
Syria has made significant progress internationally since Al-Sharaa became president in January 2025, with both the United States and the European Union lifting sanctions from the era of ousted Bashar al-Assad.
