DAMASCUS: The sleeper cell behind a deadly church bombing near Damascus belonged to the Daesh group, which had plans to target a Shiite shrine in a similar attack, Syria’s Interior Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Sunday’s attack on the Mar Elias Church killed at least 25 people.
The attack was the first of its kind in the Syrian Arab Republic in years, and comes as Damascus is trying to win the support of the country’s minorities.
Noureddine Al-Baba told journalists a second attacker was caught on Monday on his way to target a Shiite shrine in the Sayyida Zeinab suburb in Damascus, where many religious sites are located.
Al-Baba said security forces also thwarted a third operation, where an attacker on a motorbike was going to target a crowded gathering in the capital.
“We raided Daesh hideouts, seizing weapons and explosive caches,” said Al-Baba, who said security forces were able to reach the sleeper cell’s leader after interrogating the second attacker.
He said the church bomber was not Syrian but did not give details.
Al-Baba said cell leader Mohammad Abdelillah Al-Jumaili was a “Daesh leader” responsible for recruiting extremists from the sprawling Al-Hol camp in north-eastern Syria to conduct attacks.
Tens of thousands of Daesh militants and their families from around the world live in Al-Hol, held by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. The SDF condemned the attack on Sunday.
Meanwhile, funerals were held for the victims of the church bombing at the Church of the Holy Cross in Damascus. Church bells rang and women ululated as men walked through the weeping crowds carrying white coffins.
The crowds cheered as the clergy honored the victims as martyrs.
Dima Beshara, 40, who lost her cousin Emil, 38, and seven other family members in the attack said Syria has always enjoyed religious coexistence and that she was among many from all sects who celebrated the downfall of ousted leader Bashar Assad in December.
“What did they do wrong? They went to the house of God to pray?” Beshara said at the graveyard.
“Am I supposed to be scared every time I want to go and pray?” She fears for her life and those of her loved ones, who regularly attend church for prayers, weddings and funerals.
“We love everyone. We don’t have a problem with anyone. But we hope that they love us in return,” she said.
Syria’s top Christian leader said at the funeral for victims that President Ahmad Al-Sharaa’s government bore responsibility for not protecting minorities and his condolences were insufficient.
“With love and with all due respect, Mr. President, you spoke yesterday by phone ... to express your condolences. That is not enough for us,” the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, John (X) Yazigi, said at the funeral, drawing applause.
“We are grateful for the phone call. But the crime that took place is a little bigger than that.”
The US State Department condemned what its spokesperson Tammy Bruce described as “a brutal and cowardly attack” and called on the Syrian government to hold all perpetrators of violence accountable.
She said Washington continued to support the Syrian government “as it fights against forces seeking to create instability and fear in their country and in the broader region.”
Yazigi said the government must prioritize protection for all.
“What is important to me — and I will say it — is that the government bears responsibility in full,” Yazigi said.
Hundreds were at the service in the nearby Church of the Holy Cross to bury nine of the victims, whose bodies were placed in simple white coffins adorned with white flowers.
Social Affairs Minister Hind Kabawat — the only Christian and only woman in Syria’s new government — attended.
