Hundreds Mourn In Syria’s Homs After Deadly Mosque Bombing

HOMS, Syria (AP) — Hundreds of people gathered in the rain and cold outside a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs on Saturday as an imam warned that the attack could lead to more sectarian violence.

The crowd gathered near the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque, which was the target of Friday’s attack, where 18 people were injured. The population of the Wadi al-Dhahab neighborhood, where the mosque is located, consists mainly of the Alawite minority. They then set out in convoy to bury the victims.

Authorities said preliminary investigations showed that explosives were placed inside the mosque, but the identity of a suspect has not yet been made public.

A little-known group calling itself Saraya Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement published on its Telegram channel. The statement said the attack was aimed at targeting members of the Alawite sect, a branch of Shiite Islam that hard-line Islamists consider apostates.

The same group had made the claim before. suicide attack In June, a gunman opened fire on a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a on the outskirts of Damascus and then detonated an explosive vest, killing 25 people while worshipers were worshiping on Sunday.

A neighbor of a mosque, who asked to be identified only as the Honorable Abu Ahmed (“Ahmad’s father”) due to security concerns, said he was at home when he heard “a very, very loud explosion.”

He said when he and other neighbors went to the mosque, they saw terrified people running outside. They went inside and started helping the injured.

Sheikh Mohieddin Salloum, the imam of the mosque who was slightly injured in the explosion, said that the mosque is Alevi, but it is open to Muslims from other sects to come and worship, and they do this frequently.

“This is the house of Allah. Our Sunni neighbors come and pray with us, but they are few in number. They may be five or 10 people,” he said of the 300 people who attended the Friday prayer.

Salloum said he believed the attack was intended to spark a new round of sectarian conflict at a time when the country is trying to heal from nearly 14 years of civil war that ended with the ouster of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

The anger of the Alevi residents who gathered for the funeral was palpable, but the imam called for calm.

“They exploded in an Alevi mosque to create feelings of hatred and anger among Alevis, and maybe a few days later someone will explode in a Sunni mosque and say that Alevis took revenge,” Salloum said. “Then the fools on both sides will come and start fighting, and if we don’t control our minds, we’ll all be dragged behind them.”

The country has experienced many waves sectarian conflicts Since the fall of Assad. Alawi Assad fled the country to Russia.

An ambush on security forces by Assad supporters in March triggered violence that lasted for days. hundreds of people diedThe majority are Alevi. Although the situation has calmed down since then, Alevis are occasionally the target of sectarian attacks.

Syrian government officials condemned Friday’s attack and vowed to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Citizens who could not enter the mosque because the scene was cordoned off prayed outside. Some believe that Prophet Muhammad is considered by Shia Muslims to be his legal successor. He marched through the streets chanting “Ya Ali”, a reference to Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law.