A suicide bomber opened fire then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Syria during Sunday mass.
As many as 22 worshippers have been killed and another 63 injured in the ‘terrorist attack’ in Damascus.
The gunman – believed to be linked with the Islamic State – entered the Mar Elias Church, shouting ‘You pigs!’ as he aimed his weapon at the crowd and proceeded to shoot people indiscriminately.
He then blew himself up, detonating an explosive belt he was wearing.
Footage circulating on social media from inside the church shows piles of dead bodies, with blood visible throughout the scene.
Syrian resident, Lorance Meamari, said: ‘He entered and started shouting “You Pigs”.
‘When he started firing, some men tried to grab him, but he blew himself up right in that spot near the crater.
‘I personally extracted more than 10 victims, these were the ones I carried myself.
‘We also extracted 10 or 15 bags of body parts.’
The attack was the deadliest of its kind in Syria in years, and it has raised fresh concerns over the re-emergence of extremist sleeper cells in the war-torn nation.
It comes as Damascus under its de facto Islamist rule is trying to win the support of minorities.
Syria’s foreign ministry described it as ‘a desperate attempt to undermine national coexistence and to destabilise the country’.
Interior Ministry spokesperson Noureddine Al-Baba said that a preliminary investigation points to the extremist Islamic State group.
He added: ‘The security of places of worship is a red line.’
Information Minister Hamza Mostafa condemned the attack, describing it as a terrorist attack.
He said on X: ;This cowardly act goes against the civic values that brings us together.
‘We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship – and we also affirm the state’s pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organizations and to protect society from all attacks threatening its safety.’
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