At least 25 killed, 63 injured in Syrian church suicide bombing

At least 25 individuals were killed in a suicide blast and shooting on June 22nd at a church in the Syrian capital of Damascus, according to Al-Monitor via AFP.

The assault, condemned by the international community, was reportedly executed by an Islamic State operative. The event highlights the safety threat confronting Syria’s new administration.

Eyewitnesses stated the explosion triggered panic and dread in the crowded church filled with children and elderly worshippers. Families continued to frantically look for their missing loved ones.

SANA, the State news outlet, reported that 63 individuals were wounded in addition to the fatalities. Eyewitness Lawrence Maamari told AFP that people tried to stop the attacker “before he blew himself up.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that this was the first suicide bombing inside a Syrian church since the war began in 2011. Other churches suffered harm or experienced nearby assaults during the war, but none were so explicitly attacked.

The Orthodox patriarchate in Damascus urged “the authorities to bear full responsibility for what has happened and is happening concerning the violation of the sanctity of churches, and to ensure the protection of all citizens.”

The United Nations’ envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen voiced “outrage at this heinous crime” and urged a thorough investigation. Pederson encouraged Syrians “to unite in rejecting terrorism, extremism, incitement and the targeting of any community.”

According to the BBC on June 22nd, Interior Minister Anas Khattab said expert teams from his ministry launched an investigation into the “reprehensible crime.” He continued: “These terrorist acts will not stop the efforts of the Syrian state in achieving civil peace.”

Syria has not been the only nation facing a violent persecution of Christians. On June 1st, Boko Haram terrorists abducted the Nigerian Catholic priest, Rev. Alphonsus Afina, and other travellers in Borno state, in Nigeria’s northeast, Maghrebi.org via Africanews reported.

Aid to the Church in Need, a papal charity, claimed Afina is the 15th religious figure kidnapped in Nigeria in 2025.

Al-Monitor via AFP, SANA, BBC, Maghrebi.org, Africanews, Aid to the Church in Need