ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A suicide bomber on Sunday targeted a church in the Dweila neighborhood in Damascus, killing at least 20 according to health ministry tolls following the incident.

The bombing took place in Dweila’s Saint Elias church, where Christians had gathered for their Sunday prayer, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) confirmed to The New Region, adding that at the time of the bomb’s detonation the church was “crowded”.

At lease 20 people were reported dead in the explosion, with another 52 injured, according to an updated toll by the health ministry.

"A suicide bomber affiliated with the terrorist organization ISIS entered St. Elias Church in the Douweila neighborhood of Damascus, opened fire, and then detonated himself with an explosive vest," according to a statement by the Syrian Defense Ministry.

Over a decade of civil war and the subsequent rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) has made Syria a hub for extremism.

Despite the territorial defeat of ISIS in 2019, the country is still home to many sympathizers of the extremist group and holds thousands of family members of ISIS militants in camps. 

Millions of Christians, Druze, Alawites and Kurds live in Syria in addition to Arab Sunnis, The ethnic and religious diversity of Syria presents several targets for extremist ideologies. 

The country has been in a transitional period since late 2024, when an offensive led by the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) freed the country of the tyrannical rule of ousted President Bashar al-Assad.