The number of dead was increased by terrorist attack In the Greek Orthodox Church of Prophet Elias in its Duilaa Damascus of Syria.
The terrorist attack by suicide kamikaze has claimed the lives of at least 22 people in Damascus, according to the most recent account of the authorities who accused a member of the Islamic State jihadist organization (IK) of doing it.
The United Nations and many countries, including the US, France and Greece, have condemned the attack, its first forces since the leadership of Radical Islamists overturned former President Bashar al -Assad on December 8, 2024.
Security is one of the most serious challenges for the new Syrian authorities, which the international community is called upon to protect minorities and include them in the political transition process.
The Foreign Ministry in Damascus said that the perpetrator, who “It belonged to the terrorist organization Daes » (ed. abbreviation of IK in Arabic) invaded the church of St. Elias, in Damascus Doula district, “Open fire” and then “triggered explosives” with which he was alive.
In front of the church, Um George, tearful, was looking for her child, who was there when the gunman invaded. “My son is praying to this church,” he explained. “I’m trying to find him but his cellphone is out of service and I haven’t been able to find him. I’m afraid I will never hear his voice again, ”, he said.
Correspondents of the French Agency saw injured carriers removed from the church, where debris and icons They were scattered everywhere, covered with blood.
#BreakingNews Deadly blast hits Mar Elias Church in Damascus during Sunday prayers—witnesses report casualties, ISIS eyed as culprit. #DamascusAttack #ISIS pic.twitter.com/KC8kx3AIKu
— AmericaFirstVoice (@AfFirstVC) June 22, 2025
During the most recent report by the Ministry of Health cited last night by the official SANA news agency, the attack left 22 dead and 63 injured.
Lawrence Mamari, an eyewitness, said that “someone entered the church with a gun” and began to throw indiscriminately. When faithful “tried to stop him”, he triggered the explosives he had been living with.
Syria: About 15 killed and about 25 wounded in a suicide attack apparently carried out by an ISIS operative at the Mar Elias Church in Damascus.
Is this what you expect from the Religion of Peace? pic.twitter.com/E5mzWPuWOW
— AbelDebabel (@AbelDebabel5785) June 22, 2025
IK, which had overwhelmed the vast sections of Syria and Iraq in 2014, in the midst of the civil war that broke out in 2011, had declared the creation of a “caliphate” in territories of both states. Admitting multiple directions, his “caliphate” collapsed in Iraq in 2017 and Syria in 2019, but its members continue to act mainly with the vast Syrian desert.
In May, he took responsibility for the first attack on the new de facto Syrian authorities.
Authorities then announced that they arrested IK core members near Damascus, allegedly preparing new attacks, while another operation in Aleppo (north) killed a member of the security forces and three members of the jihadist organization.