An explosion has occurred at Mar Elias Church in the Syrian capital of Damascus, multiple media outlets reported on Sunday. The Orthodox Christian church was reportedly struck by a suicide bomber during mass.
At least 20 people were killed and 52 others wounded, the Syrian Health Ministry told SANA news agency in a statement.
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Graphic footage circulating online shows the church interior sustained considerable damage, with mangled bodies and large puddles of blood inside.
The blast was followed by gunshots, eyewitnesses told the UAE-based English-language newspaper The National. The origin of the weapons fire was not immediately clear.
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“I was in my car driving when I heard an explosion just as I passed the church. People started screaming and I heard gunshots,” an eyewitness told the newspaper. “Cars and ambulances started arriving. I saw many people injured and others may have been killed.”
The Syrian Interior Ministry has attributed the attack to Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) terrorist group, stating that the assailant opened fire on church goers before detonating an explosive belt, according to SANA news agency.
A priest at the church gave a different account of events, stating that there were two attackers, who opened fire outside before entering and blowing themselves up. “There were around 400 people inside the church” at the moment of the attack, he told The National.