Syria: 8 killed in bomb blast at Homs mosque, 21 injured; explosion in Alawite area

A bombing at a mosque located in the Syrian city of Homs during Friday prayers killed at least eight people and wounded 21 others, authorities told news agency AP.

Images released by Syria's state-run Arab News Agency showed blood on the mosque's carpets, holes in the walls, shattered windows and fire damage. The Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque is located in a predominantly Alawite area of the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood in Homs, Syria's third-largest city.


In a statement, Syria's foreign ministry condemned "this cowardly criminal act", which killed at least eight people, saying it came "in the context of repeated desperate attempts to undermine security and stability and spread chaos among the Syrian people".

The ministry reiterated its "firm stance in combating terrorism in all its forms", stressing that "such crimes will not deter the Syrian state from continuing its efforts to consolidate security, protect citizens, and hold those involved accountable".

SANA, citing a security source, said that preliminary investigations indicate that explosive devices were planted inside the mosque. Authorities were searching for the perpetrators of the attack. A security cordon was placed around the mosque, Syria's Interior Ministry said in a statement.

Tensions have flared across several parts of Syria in recent weeks as long-running sectarian, ethnic and political fault lines continue to destabilise the country, even as large-scale fighting has subsided.

The country has experienced several waves of sectarian clashes since the fall of President Bashar Assad last year in attacks by insurgents led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, headed by now interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa.

Assad, himself an Alawite, fled the country to Russia. Members of his sect have been subjected to crackdowns. In March, an ambush carried out by Assad's supporters against security forces triggered days of sectarian attacks that left hundreds of people dead, most of them Alawites.

On Monday, clashes have erupted intermittently between Syrian government forces and Kurdish-led fighters, the Syrian Democratic Forces, in mixed neighbourhoods in the northern city of Aleppo, forcing temporary closures of schools and public institutions and prompting civilians to shelter indoors.

A late-evening ceasefire was then announced by both sides amid ongoing de-escalation efforts. rewrite this in strictly human way. It should not read AI written and don't change the quotes.