Suicide Bombing in Syria Kills at Least 25 in Eastern Orthodox Church – The American Spectator | USA News and PoliticsThe American Spectator

At least 25 people were killed and 60 wounded in a suicide attack at an Eastern Orthodox church in Damascus, Syria, on Sunday. A suicide bomber opened fire and subsequently detonated an explosive vest inside the Church of St. Elias in the Dweil’a district of Damascus, which was filled with parishioners during an evening Divine Liturgy.

The perpetrator detonated his explosives at the church’s entrance when a crowd charged at him to remove him from the church. According to one eyewitness, parishioners had managed to wrestle the terrorist to the ground before the explosive went off. Father Fadi Ghattas, who was present at the attack, told the Associated Press that “there were 350 people praying at the church” who were “praying safely under the eyes of God.” Some testimonies said a second gunman participated in the attack, but those reports have not been confirmed.

Although the terrorist attack follows months of sectarian violence in Syria, this was the first suicide bombing in a church in Syria since the country’s civil war erupted in 2011.

Nonetheless, Christians have faced serious struggles in Syria for years. The Christian population in Syria before the start of Syria’s civil war was around 1.5 million, representing 10 percent of the country’s population. Since then, around four-fifths of Syrian Christians have been displaced, with reports estimating that as few as 300,000 Christians remain in Syria today.

As Syria’s new Islamist President Ahmad al-Sharaa struggles to maintain security and retain support from minority groups such as Christians, several extremist groups still remain an active threat in war-torn Syria. During his overthrow of the Assad regime, al-Sharaa, though formerly a member of Al Qaeda, promised in December to protect minority groups and rule for the whole of the Syrian people. While no group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s terrorist strike, Syrian officials said the Islamic State carried out the attack.

According to Syria’s state media SANA, the government carried out operations against ISIS-linked terrorist cells in the Damascus countryside. During the raid, they arrested a cell leader and five members, and killed two others affiliated with the terrorist attack on St. Elias Church. One of those killed was allegedly the main person who facilitated the suicide bomber’s entry into the church.

Al-Sharaa condemned the bombing as a “treacherous terrorist attack” and offered “our deepest condolences and sincere sympathy for the families of victims who passed away in the criminal bombing that affected all the Syrian people.” He pledged to “apprehend all those who participated in and planned this heinous crime and bring them to justice to face their just punishment.”

After Syria’s raid on the terrorist cells, the country’s Interior Ministry said in a press release that “these cowardly terrorist acts will only strengthen [the Ministry’s] resolve to pursue anyone who attempts to threaten the country’s security, and that its response will be firm and continuous.”

The Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch issued a statement in which he commemorated “the lives of our loved ones who fell today as martyrs” and condemned the “heinous act and [denounced], in the strongest terms, this horrific crime.” He called for urgent action on the part of Syrian authorities, exhorting them to “assume full responsibility for what has happened and continues to happen in terms of violation against the sanctity of churches, and to ensure the protection of all citizens.”

The patriarch concluded his statement with an assertion of resolute faith: “We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to our faith and, through that steadfastness, our rejection of all fear and intimidation. We beseech Christ our God to guide the ship of our salvation through the storms of this world, He who is blessed forever.”

His Beatitude Patriarch John X visited St. Elias Church on Monday evening and offered prayers for the “repose of the souls of the martyrs,” the healing of the wounded, and the comfort for grieving families.

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