22 Killed, 63 Wounded After Explosive Vest Detonates In Church

At least 22 people were killed and 63 others were injured after suicide bomber opened fire before detonating an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Syria on Sunday (June 22), state media reported via the New York Post.

The incident took place inside the Mar Elias Church located in Dweil'a on the outskirts of Damascus, according to the state media outlet SANA, which cited the Health Ministry's death and injury toll. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, confirmed that at least 19 people were killed and dozens more were wounded, however, didn't provide exact totals.

Some local media outlets reported that children were killed in the attack. The church attack was the first of its kind to take place in Syria in years amid the de facto Islamist rule in Damascus, which is trying to win the support of minorities. President Ahmad al-Sharaa is reported to be struggling to exert authority within the country, which has sparked concern over the presence of sleeper cells of extremist groups, however, no group claimed responsibility for the attack on the church at the time of publication Monday (June 23).

Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba claimed that a preliminary investigation points to the extremist Islamic State group as one gunmen entered the church, fired at worshippers and detonated himself with an explosive vests, according to witness testimonies.

“The security of places of worship is a red line,” Al-Baba said, claiming that the Islamic State and remaining members of the ousted Assad government were attempting to to destabilize Syria.

Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mostafa publicly condemned the incident as a terrorist attack on his X account.

“This cowardly act goes against the civic values that brings us together,” he wrote via the New York Post. “We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship … and we also affirm the state’s pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organizations and to protect society from all attacks threatening its safety.