A tragic incident unfolded in Dweil’a, Syria, where a suicide bomber targeted a Greek Orthodox church, shooting before detonating an explosive vest among worshippers on Sunday. The attack resulted in at least 22 deaths and injured 63 others, as reported by state media.

According to SANA, the state news agency, and based on information from the Health Ministry, the attack occurred at the Mar Elias Church on the outskirts of Damascus. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, confirmed at least 19 fatalities and numerous injuries, though exact numbers were unspecified. Local reports also indicated that some of the victims were children.

This devastating assault is the first of its kind on a church in Syria for several years. It comes amid efforts by the regime in Damascus to garner support from minority communities. President Ahmad al-Sharaa faces challenges asserting control across the nation, raising fears over the potential activities of extremist sleeper cells in the conflict-ridden country.

No group immediately claimed responsibility Sunday. Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba said in a news conference that their preliminary investigation points to the extremist Islamic State group. The ministry said one gunmen entered the church, fired at the people there before detonating himself with an explosives vest, echoing some witness testimonies.

“The security of places of worship is a red line,” he said, adding that IS and remaining members of the ousted Assad government are trying to destabilize Syria.

Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mostafa condemned the attack, calling it a terrorist attack.

“This cowardly act goes against the civic values that brings us together,” he said on X. “We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship … and we also affirm the state’s pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organizations and to protect society from all attacks threatening its safety.”

Witnesses said the gunman with his face covered entered and fired at the people. When a crowd charged at him to remove him from the church, he detonated his explosives at the entrance.

Syria’s Social Affairs and Labor Minister Hind Kabawat, the country’s Christian and female minister, met with the clergy at the church in the evening to express her condolences.

“People were praying safely under the eyes of God,” said Father Fadi Ghattas, who said he saw at least 20 people killed with his own eyes. “There were 350 people praying at the church.”

However, Meletius Shahati, a church priest, said there was a second gunman who shot at the church door before the other person detonated himself.

Issam Nasr who was praying at the church said he saw people “blown to bits.”

“We have never held a knife in our lives. All we ever carried were our prayers,” he said.

Security forces and first-responders rushed to the church. Panicked survivors wailed, as one lady fell to her knees and burst into tears. A photo circulated by Syrian state media SANA showed the church’s pews covered in debris and blood.

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Chehayeb reported from Beirut.