The Islamic State is supposed to be behind a deadly suicide bomb attack that took place in a Greek -Orthodox church in Syria on Sunday.
At least 22 people were killed and 63 others were injured in the attack that took place in the Mar Elias Church in Dweil’a, located on the edge of Damascus. Allegedly it started while people were praying. The perpetrator first opened the fire on the worshipers before he exploded himself.
Although no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the spokesperson for the Syrian Ministry of the Interior presented Noureddine Al-Baba Isis as a likely perpetrator after a preliminary investigation.
“The safety of worship is a red line,” Al-Baba said further, castigating ISIS and what remains of the former government of the Ba’athist dictator Bashar Al-Assad as actors trying to destabilize Syria.
Suicide bomber hits the Syrian church near Damascus during Mass
Citizens and security forces inspect bombing in the Mar Elias Church in Dewil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, on 22 June 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country repeated Al-Baba and described the attack as “a desperate attempt to undermine national coexistence and destabilize the country.”
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A civil defense employee inspects damage in the Mar Elias Church in Dweil’a on June 22, 2025. (Sana via AP)
The attack traveled international conviction. “These terrible acts of cowardice have no place in the new carpet of integrated tolerance and inclusion that Syrians weave,” wrote the American ambassador in Turkey and special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack on X.
“We continue to support the Syrian government while fighting those who want to create instability and fear in their country and the wider region,” concluded the post.
People gather outside the Mar Elias Church in Dweil’a after the suicide attack on June 22, 2025. (Bakr Alkasem/AFP via Getty images)
The attack comes in the midst of a time of raised political unrest in the notoriously volatile middle -east – less than 24 hours after the US launched air strikes on three of Iran’s best nuclear facilities.
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Israel launched a series of similar attacks, including attacks on the Iranian capital Tehran in the weeks before.
The Associated Press has contributed to this report.
