An explosion has killed at least eight people and injured 18 others during Friday prayers inside a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs, according to the health ministry.
Pictures from Syria's state-run news agency, Sana, show the inside of the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque with black, scorched walls, shattered windows, and blood on the carpet.
Officials suspect that an explosive device was detonated inside the mosque. The jihadist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah has claimed responsibility for the explosion, stating it was executed in collaboration with another unidentified faction.
This mosque is located in the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood, predominantly inhabited by the Alawite community, an ethnoreligious group often at the center of sectarian violence in Syria.
In a strongly worded statement, Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned the terrorist crime, labeling the act a blatant assault on human and moral values aimed at destabilizing the country.
Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah, which has previously been linked to various sectarian attacks, asserted that the bombing utilized explosives planted at the site. Observers have expressed concerns about the group’s potential affiliations with extremist factions like the Islamic State.
The attack comes in the wake of ongoing sectarian violence in Syria, intensifying fears among the Alawite community, particularly since the fall of the Assad regime. The incident underscores the precarious security situation in a nation still reeling from years of conflict and instability.
