Syria says Daesh group plotted church, shrine attacks to inflame sectarian tensions
RIYADH: Detained members of the ISIS/Daesh terrorist group have confessed to their involvement in the June 2025 bombing of Mar Elias Church in Damascus and described plans for further attacks aimed at inflaming sectarian tensions and undermining Syria’s new government, Syria's Interior Ministry has said.
In news releases carried by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the ministry said the group sought to exploit the security vacuum that followed the fall of the ssad regime by moving fighters from the Syrian desert into urban areas, establishing sleeper cells and seizing weapons and explosives from abandoned stockpiles.
The attack on Mar Elias Church in Damascus’ Al-Dweilaa neighborhood on June 22, 2025, killed 25 civilians and wounded 63 others.
In recorded confessions released by the ministry and reported by SANA, detainees said ISIS had planned to attack the church by opening fire on worshippers before detonating an explosive vest. They also described a separate plot targeting the Sayyida Zainab shrine, which was later postponed because of heightened security measures.
