A bomb went off in a mosque in Syria’s city of Homs on Friday, killing at least eight people and wounding 18 others, said Syrian authorities.
Security sources cited by the country’s state-run news agency said explosive devices had been planted inside the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in Homs, Syria’s third-largest city. A security cordon was placed around the building, which is in an area of the Wadi al-Dhahab neighbourhood dominated by the Alawite minority.
In a statement, the Supreme Alawite Islamic Council in Syria and the Diaspora described the attack as “a continuation of the organised extremist terrorism specifically targeting the Alawite community, and increasingly other Syrian groups as well”.
The council held the Syrian government “fully and directly responsible for these crimes”, adding that “these criminal acts will not go unanswered”.
Syria’s Interior Ministry said in a statement that authorities were searching for the perpetrators who have not yet been identified.
However, a little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on its Telegram channel.
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The same group had previously claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in June, in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweila, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.
“Syria reiterates its firm stance in combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added in a statement.
“Remnants of the former regime, IS militants and collaborators have converged on a single goal: obstructing the path of the new state by undermining stability, threatening civil peace, and eroding the shared coexistence and common destiny of Syrians throughout history,” the Syrian information minister said in a post on X.
Neighbouring countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon, also condemned the attack. In a statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reaffirmed “Lebanon’s support for Syria in its fight against terrorism”.
Syria has seen long-standing sectarian, ethnic and political instability, even as large-scale fighting has subsided. It joined the global coalition against IS and launched a crackdown on IS cells, particularly after an attack on US forces earlier this month that killed two service members and a civilian translator.
After the fall of President Bashar Assad last year, members of his Alawite sect have been subjected to crackdowns.
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