A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias Church, where a suicide bomber detonated himself, in Dweil’a in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025 [Omar Sanadiki/AP]
Government faces scrutiny as church attack highlights ongoing threats to stability and safety for all minorities in Syria.
Sunday’s deadly attack on the Mar Elias Church in Damascus has shaken Syria, and particularly the country’s Christians.
The attack on Sunday killed at least 25 people, after a man with a rifle entered the church and shot at worshippers, before detonating a suicide bomb. It has raised questions about the ability of the new Syrian government to manage security in the country and protect its citizens, including those from minority groups.
The Syrian Interior Ministry blamed ISIL (ISIS) for the attack, though another group called Saraya Ansar al-Sunna later claimed it. Government officials described the attack as an attempt to undermine their efforts to establish a state following the fall of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad in December
“Sedition is happening,” Hind Kabawat, Syria’s Social and Labour Affairs minister, told Syria TV from a Damascus hospital, as she fought back tears. “All Christians and Muslims and all Syrians need to be strong today. This is a big wound, and our pain is big.”
Fears in Syria
While the target of the attack was a church – the first of its kind against a Syrian church since the fall of the al-Assad regime – it serves as a reminder of the precarious security situation the country still finds itself in, affecting all Syrians, as the government attempts to provide stability.
“It’s very dangerous,” Abu Hassan, a Damascus resident, told Al Jazeera by phone. He said that he was wary of more attacks taking place as part of an attempt to sow disunity between Syria’s Christians and Muslims.
“[The attacks] won’t disappear,” he said. “There will be more blood. May God protect this country.”
Al Jazeera/ News Agencies