AT LEAST 22 Christians have been killed in a shooting by an attacker who then blew himself up during a service in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
The bomber, who the authorities believe was a member of the group Islamic State, detonated a suicide vest after opening fire in the Greek Orthodox St Elias Church, on the outskirts of Damascus, during a service on Sunday.
The Syrian health ministry said that 22 people had been killed in the attack, and a further 52 were injured. Several hundred people were believed to have been inside the church at the time.
The Syrian Interior Ministry said in a statement: “A suicide attacker affiliated with Daesh (IS) terrorist group entered the Saint Elias church . . . opened fire then blew himself up with an explosive belt.”
The attack was, it said, a “desperate attempt to undermine national co-existence and to destabilise the country”.
Witnesses said that there was a second gunman who escaped the scene.
This is the first attack in a church since President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December last year by Islamist-led forces (News, 13 December 2024).
The President of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led the offensive against al-Assad and took over as transitional President, has vowed to protect minorities in Syria.
The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch issued a statement saying that the “treacherous hand of evil struck” on Sunday.
It said it “strongly condemns this heinous act and denounces, in the strongest terms, this horrific crime. It calls upon the responsible authorities to assume full responsibility for what has happened and continues to happen in term of violation against the sanctity of churches, and to ensure the protection of all citizens.”
At least 120 churches were destroyed in the civil war, which began in 2011. Before the war, Christians in Syria made up ten per cent of the population, but many moved out of the country to avoid conscription to the army. The current number of Christians in the country is unknown, although some estimates put it as low as 300,000. There is just one Anglican congregation in Damascus, at All Saints’. The Rector, the Ven. Imad Zoorob, who is Archdeacon over Lebanon and Syria, said that the incident on Sunday was “an inhumane attack on our brothers and sisters”.
He continued: “As the Episcopal Church — diocese of Jerusalem — we join Archbishop Hosam in strongly condemning this horrific act of violence against our sister church, and against our brothers and sisters in Christ at the Greek Orthodox Church.
“We are praying for the grieving families, for all who are suffering in body, mind, or spirit. We ask that our Saviour may touch their hearts, minds, and bodies — granting the injured strength through his healing presence, and comforting those who have lost their dear ones through the power and promise of His resurrection.”