Blast at Homs mosque kills eight; Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah claims attack

What happened

An explosion ripped through the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque in Homs' Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood during Friday prayers, killing at least eight people and injuring 18, the health ministry said. State-run images show scorched walls, shattered windows and blood on the carpet; officials say an explosive device was detonated inside the building while investigators search for the perpetrators. The jihadist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah has claimed responsibility for the blast and said it acted with another unnamed group.

Context and claims

The mosque is located in an Alawite-majority area, and Syria's Foreign Ministry condemned the attack as a "terrorist crime" intended to undermine stability. Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah is an opaque Sunni extremist group that previously claimed a deadly church bombing in Damascus; some observers suspect it may be a front for Islamic State due to similarities in messaging and targets. The report notes the incident follows months of relative inactivity by the group and comes amid broader sectarian tensions and alleged reprisals since the reported overthrow of Bashar al-Assad a year ago, as reported by BBC

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