Deadly blast hits Homs mosque as Syria grapples with security challenges

DAMASCUS –

Six people were killed in an explosion at a mosque of the Alawite minority sect in the Syrian city of Homs on Friday, Syrian state news agency SANA said.

SANA cited Syrian Health Ministry official Najib al-Naasan as saying 21 others were wounded and that the figures were a preliminary toll, indicating they could rise.

“A terrorist explosion targeted the Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque during Friday prayers in Al-Khadri Street in the Wadi al-Dahab neighbourhood of Homs,” the interior ministry confirmed the report in a statement, adding that six people were killed and 21 others wounded.

Homs city’s press office said an explosive device had detonated inside the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib mosque and that security forces had cordoned off the area.

Local official Issam Naameh said the blast took place during Friday noon prayers, typically the busiest time for mosques.

Syrian state media SANA published footage of rescuers and security forces examining debris splayed across the mosque’s green carpet. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human rights monitor, it was not immediately clear whether the blast “was caused by a suicide attack or an explosive device.”

A local security source in Homs said on condition of anonymity the explosion may have been caused by “an explosive device placed inside the mosque.”

A resident of the area, requesting anonymity out of fear for his safety, said people “heard a loud explosion, followed by chaos and panic in the neighbourhood.”

“No one dares to leave their house, and we are hearing ambulance sirens,” he added.

Homs city is home to a Sunni Muslim majority but also has several predominantly Alawite areas.

While most Syrians are Sunni, ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad belongs to the Alawite community, whose faith stems from Shia Islam.

Syria has been rocked by several episodes of sectarian violence since Assad was ousted and replaced by a government led by members of the Sunni Muslim majority.

Syria’s coastal areas saw the massacre of Alawite civilians in March, with authorities accusing armed Assad supporters of sparking the violence by attacking security forces.

Earlier this month, two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in central Syria by an attacker described by the authorities as a suspected member of the Islamic State (ISIS), a violent Sunni Muslim group.