An Islamist militant group claimed responsibility for the bombing of a mosque in an Alawite-majority area of Syria’s Homs on Friday (December 26, 2025), which killed at least eight people.
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.
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. 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.
Local official Issam Naameh told Reuters 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.
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.
Syria has been rocked by several episodes of sectarian violence since longtime leader Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite, was ousted by a rebel offensive last year and replaced by a government led by members of the Sunni Muslim majority.
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, a violent Sunni Muslim group.
With inputs from AP, Reuters, AFP
Published – December 26, 2025 04:17 pm IST
