Aleppo, Syria
CNN
–
At least 20 people were killed and another 52 were injured after a “terrorist attack” at a Greek Orthodox church in Syria’s capital on Sunday, according to the country’s health ministry.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Syrian Home Ministry told CNN it was carried out by a “suspicion bombing affiliated with the terrorist organization ISIS.”
He fired fire at the congregation of Maríaías Church in Damascus, then “using an explosive vest to explode myself,” the ministry said in a statement.
According to Sana, a Syrian state news agency, Mass was being held at the church during the attack.
Videos circulating through Syrian social media from inside the church show corpses, significant destruction, crushed glass and broken chairs holding chunks, allowing blood to be visible throughout the scene.
Syrian civil defense, commonly known as white helmets, said emergency teams are working to transport the bodies to hospitals and secure the area.
On Sunday, “A dangerous hand of evil has been struck,” the Greek Orthodox Patriarch said in a statement, “an explosion occurred at the entrance to the church, causing deaths of many martyrs and injuries to many others within the church.”
“We pray for the peace of the souls of martyrs, the healing of the wounded, and the comfort of the sad believers. We reaffirm our unwavering commitment to faith, and our reaffirm our unwavering fear and rejection of threat,” the Church said.
Syrian UN envoy Geir O. Pedersen expressed his “anger” over “heinous crime,” his office said in a statement.
“Pedersen is urging everyone to unite by rejecting terrorism, extremism, incitement and targets in all Syrian communities. He expresses his deepest sadness to his hopes for the recovery of the families of the victims and the injured,” the statement said.
Thomas Barrack, the US Syrian envoy, calls the attack an act of “co-disease,” and says it “is not in the new tapestry of integrated tolerance and inclusion that Syrians are weaving in.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is abolishing the containment of attacks in Turkey, Jordan, Iraq, Israel, Greece, Cyprus, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestinian authorities, Yemen, Oman, Bahrain, Ukraine, Austria, Belgium, Czech Lepolik, and Western countries.
