A small, unknown Sunni extremist group, Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, in central , which claimed the lives of eight people.
Its fighters “detonated several explosive devices”, the organization wrote in its statement published on Telegram, promising to continue attacks against “infidels and apostates”.
Eight dead and 21 injured from the explosion
According to the Syrian news agency SANA, eight people were killed in the explosion that occurred during the Friday prayer.
The Syrian Ministry of the Interior announced the provisional tally, clarifying that 21 people have been injured.
According to the press office of the city of Homs, an explosive device detonated inside the Ali bin Abi Talib mosque and security forces cordoned off the area.
It is noted that the same Sunni extremist organization carried out the suicide attack on the Greek Orthodox church of the Prophet Elias in Damascus in June, with a death toll of 27.
Frequent attacks on Alawites in Syria
The city of Homs is inhabited by a mostly Sunni population and includes several districts inhabited by the Alawite minority.
The Alawite Muslim minority is home to President Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown in December 2024 by a coalition of Sunni Islamist rebel groups led by Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sara.
Since then, this community has been the target of attacks, as APE reports.
According to a national commission of inquiry, at least 1,426 of its members were killed in March clashes between security forces and men loyal to Bashar al-Assad in western Syria.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than 1,700 people, mostly members of the Alawite minority, were killed in March.
: first photos from inside the Mosque where the terror attack occurred today in Wadi Dahab, .
Preliminary toll is 8 dead and wounded.
— The slice Al Muudik (@QalatAlMudiq)
The announcement of the Syrian Foreign Ministry
The deadly attack constitutes a “desperate attempt” to destabilize the country, the Syrian Foreign Ministry announced.
“This brazen criminal act is one of those desperate and repeated attempts to undermine security and stability and spread chaos” in Syria, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement that included a pledge to fight terrorism in all its forms.
