At least 8 dead, 18 wounded in Syrian mosque bombing
A bombing at a mosque located in the Syrian city of Homs during Friday prayers killed at least eight people and wounded 18 others, authorities said.
Images released by Syria’s state-run Arab News Agency (SANA) showed blood on the mosque’s carpets, holes in the walls, shattered windows and fire damage. The Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque is located in an area of the Wadi al-Dhahab neighbourhood dominated by the Alawite minority in Homs, Syria’s third-largest city.
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.
Tensions have flared across several parts of Syria in recent weeks as long-running sectarian, ethnic and political fault lines continue to destabilize the country, even as large-scale fighting has subsided.
The country has experienced several waves of sectarian clashes since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad last year. Assad, himself an Alawite, fled the country to Russia. Members of his sect have been subjected to crackdowns.
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