A gunman and suicide bomber linked to the Islamic State killed at least 22 people during a packed Sunday service at a Damascus church, in what authorities described as an unprecedented and calculated terrorist strike.
The attacker entered Saint Elias Orthodox Church in the Dwelaa district, opened fire on worshippers, then detonated an explosive belt, according to Syria’s interior ministry.
It marked the first such assault on a church in the capital since Syria’s civil war began in 2011, and the first since Islamist forces toppled Bashar al-Assad’s regime last December.
AFP reporters witnessed chaos at the site, where emergency workers carried out the wounded and bodies lay among shattered pews and blood-streaked icons. Health officials confirmed 22 fatalities and 63 injuries.
Worshipper Lawrence Maamari, who survived the attack, said the assailant began shooting inside the church before detonating the bomb. Witnesses described panic, with children and the elderly among the casualties.
Local shopkeeper Ziad Helou recalled hearing gunfire, then an explosion, and seeing glass and wood flung across the street. “We saw fire inside and benches hurled to the church’s entrance,” he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed this was the first suicide bombing inside a church since the war began. Other churches had been damaged or affected by nearby fighting but had not been directly targeted.
The Orthodox Patriarchate in Damascus demanded accountability from authorities and urged them to safeguard all citizens, especially religious minorities.
Syria’s Christian population, once around one million strong, has dwindled to under 300,000 due to displacement and emigration during the war.
UN special envoy Geir Pedersen condemned the bombing as a “heinous crime” and called for an investigation. Similar condemnation came from the US, France, Egypt’s Al-Azhar, and Turkey, which reaffirmed support for Syria’s fight against terrorism.
Interior Minister Anas Khattab announced an official investigation had begun, stating, “These terrorist acts will not halt Syria’s pursuit of civil peace.”
Khattab previously warned that IS had shifted tactics toward targeting Christian and Shiite communities and confirmed that authorities had foiled other such plots in recent months.
The IS group, though territorially defeated in 2019, remains active in Syria, and recently claimed its first attack on the country’s new government forces.