{"id":126717,"date":"2025-06-24T06:51:18","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T06:51:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?p=126717"},"modified":"2025-06-24T06:51:19","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T06:51:19","slug":"extremist-group-claims-deadly-damascus-church-bombing-vows-more-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/","title":{"rendered":"Extremist group claims deadly Damascus church bombing, vows more attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013<\/strong> In the early hours of Tuesday, the extremist group <em>Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah<\/em> claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide bombing that targeted the Mar Elias Church in the al-Duwaila neighborhood of Damascus during a Sunday mass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The attack left 22 people dead and 59 others injured, according to the latest figures released by Syria&#8217;s Ministry of Health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah<\/em>, a relatively new group that publicly emerged in February, has claimed responsibility for a series of violent operations, including a massacre in the village of Arza in Hama that killed more than ten local residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The group claims its leader is an individual who goes by the name Abu Aisha al-Shami.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In its statement, the group identified the perpetrator of the Damascus church bombing as \u201cthe martyrdom-seeker Mohammed Zain al-Abidin Abu Othman,\u201d claiming he carried out the suicide attack that resulted in dozens of casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Syrian Transitional Government had blamed the attack on the so-called Islamic State (ISIS).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On Monday, the Interior Ministry announced that security forces had dismantled a cell linked to the group in Rif Dimashq, killing one member allegedly responsible for facilitating the bomber\u2019s entry into the church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, <em>Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah<\/em> denied the government&#8217;s claims, stating: \u201cWe affirm that the narrative pushed by the al-Jolani regime&#8217;s media is utterly false and baseless. It insults the intelligence of the people of the Levant.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The group also issued further threats of future attacks, using sectarian language aimed at religious minorities, including the Alawite and Shi\u2019a communities. In previous Telegram communications, the group claimed attacks in Homs, the Syrian coast, and rural Hama, and recently threatened the Druze-majority region of Suwayda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>By Tasir Mohammad<\/strong><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 In the early hours of Tuesday, the extremist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide bombing that targeted the Mar Elias Church in the al-Duwaila neighborhood of Damascus during a Sunday mass. The attack left 22 people dead and 59 others injured, according to the latest figures [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":126718,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_sgb_lightbox_settings":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39,7,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-126717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home","category-military-developments","category-syria"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Extremist group claims deadly Damascus church bombing, vows more attacks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 In the early hours of Tuesday, the extremist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Extremist group claims deadly Damascus church bombing, vows more attacks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 In the early hours of Tuesday, the extremist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"North press agency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-24T06:51:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-24T06:51:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/685844374236047a044af9b7-750x430-1-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"430\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"semav1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@NPA_English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NPA_English\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"semav1\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/126717\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/126717\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"semav1\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0\"},\"headline\":\"Extremist group claims deadly Damascus church bombing, vows more attacks\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-24T06:51:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-24T06:51:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/126717\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":292,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/126717\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/685844374236047a044af9b7-750x430-1-1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"HOME\",\"Military and Security Developments\",\"SYRIA\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/126717\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/126717\\\/\",\"name\":\"Extremist group claims deadly Damascus church bombing, vows more attacks\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/126717\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/126717\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/685844374236047a044af9b7-750x430-1-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-24T06:51:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-24T06:51:19+00:00\",\"description\":\"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 In the early hours of Tuesday, the extremist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/126717\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/126717\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/126717\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/685844374236047a044af9b7-750x430-1-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/685844374236047a044af9b7-750x430-1-1.jpg\",\"width\":750,\"height\":430,\"caption\":\"Impacts of the suicide bomb at the Mar Elias Church in Damascus, Syria's capital, on June 22, 2025.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/126717\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Extremist group claims deadly Damascus church bombing, vows more attacks\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"North press agency\",\"description\":\"North press agency\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"North press agency\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/npasyria.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/npasyria.jpg\",\"width\":682,\"height\":388,\"caption\":\"North press agency\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/NPA.SYR\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/NPA_English\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/northpressagency\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCyGMim0bdq_6W-ryV9WI29A\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0\",\"name\":\"semav1\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"semav1\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/npasyria.com\\\/en\\\/author\\\/semav1\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Extremist group claims deadly Damascus church bombing, vows more attacks","description":"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 In the early hours of Tuesday, the extremist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Extremist group claims deadly Damascus church bombing, vows more attacks","og_description":"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 In the early hours of Tuesday, the extremist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide","og_url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/","og_site_name":"North press agency","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/","article_published_time":"2025-06-24T06:51:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-24T06:51:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":750,"height":430,"url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/685844374236047a044af9b7-750x430-1-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"semav1","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@NPA_English","twitter_site":"@NPA_English","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"semav1","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/"},"author":{"name":"semav1","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0"},"headline":"Extremist group claims deadly Damascus church bombing, vows more attacks","datePublished":"2025-06-24T06:51:18+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-24T06:51:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/"},"wordCount":292,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/685844374236047a044af9b7-750x430-1-1.jpg","articleSection":["HOME","Military and Security Developments","SYRIA"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/","name":"Extremist group claims deadly Damascus church bombing, vows more attacks","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/685844374236047a044af9b7-750x430-1-1.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-24T06:51:18+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-24T06:51:19+00:00","description":"DAMASCUS, Syria (North Press) \u2013 In the early hours of Tuesday, the extremist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/685844374236047a044af9b7-750x430-1-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/685844374236047a044af9b7-750x430-1-1.jpg","width":750,"height":430,"caption":"Impacts of the suicide bomb at the Mar Elias Church in Damascus, Syria's capital, on June 22, 2025."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/126717\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Extremist group claims deadly Damascus church bombing, vows more attacks"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/","name":"North press agency","description":"North press agency","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#organization","name":"North press agency","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/npasyria.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/npasyria.jpg","width":682,"height":388,"caption":"North press agency"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/NPA.SYR\/","https:\/\/x.com\/NPA_English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/northpressagency\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCyGMim0bdq_6W-ryV9WI29A"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/1cc380944b76ba86440ef8ad099f16a0","name":"semav1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4dd32221f0f6234b81e7d16b824fc92b9c1a8794a5fa04024fb4ddedd3a61599?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"semav1"},"url":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/author\/semav1\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126719,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126717\/revisions\/126719"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/npasyria.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}