HOMS, Syria — A deadly explosion struck the Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque in the predominantly Alawite Wadi al-Dahab neighborhood of Homs during Friday prayers, killing six people and wounding 21, Syria’s Interior Ministry said Friday.
“A terrorist explosion targeted the Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque during Friday prayers in Al-Khadri Street in the Wadi al-Dahab neighbourhood of Homs,” the ministry said in a statement carried by state media, adding that six people were killed and 21 others wounded.
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Syria’s state news agency, SANA, said the cause and nature of the blast were under investigation.
A local security source in Homs, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the explosion may have been caused by “an explosive device placed inside the mosque.” A resident who requested anonymity for safety reasons said people “heard a loud explosion, followed by chaos and panic in the neighbourhood,” adding, “No one dares to leave their house, and we are hearing ambulance sirens.”
SANA published photos from inside the mosque that showed a hole punched through a wall. Black smoke stained sections of the interior, with prayer carpets and books scattered across the floor.
Homs, home to a Sunni Muslim majority but with several predominantly Alawite areas, saw some of the fiercest sectarian violence during Syria’s civil war. While most Syrians are Sunni, ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad belongs to the Alawite community, whose faith stems from Shiite Islam.
Since Assad’s ouster in 2024, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and residents in Homs have reported kidnappings and killings targeting members of the minority community. In March, Syria’s coastal areas saw a massacre of Alawite civilians. Authorities accused armed Assad supporters of sparking the violence by attacking security forces.
A national commission of inquiry said at least 1,426 members of the minority were killed in those coastal attacks, while the Observatory put the toll at more than 1,700.
As investigators worked to determine what caused Friday’s blast in Homs, residents described a tense, fearful calm in Wadi al-Dahab, with first responders moving through the district and families sheltering indoors.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
