A blast at a mosque in Homs, Syria, kills at least eight worshippers during Friday prayers, with an extremist group claiming responsibility.
HOMS: An explosion killed at least eight people at a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of Syria’s Homs city on Friday.
State media reported the blast occurred during Friday prayers at the Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dahab neighbourhood.
A preliminary toll cited a health ministry official, stating at least 18 others were wounded in the attack.
Extremist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the bombing in a statement on Telegram.
The group said its fighters “detonated a number of explosive devices” inside the place of worship.
Syria’s interior ministry described it as a “terrorist explosion” and said authorities had begun an investigation.
A security source told state news agency SANA that initial findings indicated “explosive devices planted inside the mosque” caused the blast.
An AFP photographer saw security forces cordoning off the blackened, debris-strewn area inside the mosque.
Witness Usama Ibrahim, 47, was being treated in hospital for shrapnel wounds to his head and back.
“The world turned red… and I fell to the ground. Then I saw blood flowing from my head,” he told AFP.
Another wounded worshipper, bookseller Ghadi Maarouf, 38, said the explosion happened just before the sermon.
“It was a huge explosion, and I saw shrapnel flying all around me,” said Maarouf, whose leg was wounded.
Syria’s foreign ministry condemned a “cowardly criminal act” designed to undermine the country’s stability.
The attack is the latest targeting Syria’s Alawite community, a minority faith stemming from Shiite Islam.
The Supreme Alawite Islamic Council called the bombing part of an “organised” campaign against the community.
It demanded international protection for Alawites and other Syrian communities.
Several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan, condemned the attack.
France labelled it an “act of terrorism” aimed at destabilising Syria.
United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the “unacceptable” attack.
He said the perpetrators should be brought to justice.
The bombing is the second major attack on a place of worship since Islamist authorities took power a year ago.
A suicide bombing at a Damascus church killed 25 people in June, which authorities blamed on the Islamic State group.
Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, which formed after the ouster of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, had also claimed that attack.
Despite assurances from Damascus, the country’s minorities remain wary of their future under the new authorities.
Separately, Syrian state television reported the release of 70 detainees in the coastal city of Latakia on Friday.
It said they were freed “after it was proven that they were not involved in war crimes”, with more releases to follow.
