A brutal terrorist attack took place on Sunday around 5 p.m. local time at Mar Elias Church in the Douweila neighborhood of Damascus.
The attacker began shooting at people and then blew himself up inside the church.
As of 10 p.m. local time, at least 20 people are dead and at least 50 have been wounded, with the numbers still climbing.
“The attacker entered Mar Elias Church during a service and opened fire with a weapon before detonating an explosive vest,” the Syrian Interior Ministry told the BBC.
It added that he was affiliated with the jihadist group Islamic State (IS). “There was no immediate claim from the group itself,” the ministry said.
At approximately the same time, attacks took place on other churches across Syria.
A suicide bomber also targeted the Deir Ibrahim al-Khalil Monastery in Douweila, Damascus.
Another terrorist team attacked a church in Maqsura called the Church of Our Lady, placing explosive devices at the door.
In the cities of Homs and Hama, several churches were also attacked by shooters.
Leaflets were also posted on the doors of these churches, reading, “Your turn is coming.”
These were the first terrorist attacks on churches in Damascus and across Syria since Bashar al-Assad was overthrown by rebel forces in December, the BBC reported.
“Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa — whose Sunni Islamist group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), is a former al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria — has repeatedly promised to protect religious and ethnic minorities,” noted the BBC. “However, the country has been rocked by two waves of deadly sectarian violence in recent months.”
This article was originally published by All Arab News.
