Eight people were killed and 18 others injured on Friday in a bomb explosion at the Alawite Imam Ali bin Abi Talib mosque in the Syrian city of Homs, according to Syrian state news agency SANA, while Syria's Interior Ministry described the incident as a 'terrorist attack.' The explosion occurred during Friday noon prayers, the main prayer of the week. According to preliminary investigation data, the bomb was placed inside the mosque, which is affiliated with the Alawite branch of Islam, a minority sect of Shia Islam practiced by former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who was overthrown on December 8, 2024. The head of the Ministry of Health's Emergency Department, Najib al-Naasan, told SANA that the casualty toll is still preliminary. In a statement, Syria's Foreign Ministry added that this attack constitutes 'a blatant violation of human and moral values and is part of the attempts of the remnants of the overthrown regime' and the terrorist group Islamic State (IS) 'to undermine security, stability and sow chaos in the country.' So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. IS was territorially defeated in Syria in 2019, although there have been several warnings that its threat remains latent in several points of the Syrian central desert, which spans several provinces of the country.
