In a shocking return to extremist violence, a suicide bomber targeted the Mar Elias Church on the outskirts of Damascus during Sunday prayers, killing at least 12 people and injuring over 50 others, including children. The attack claimed to involve ISIS operatives raises urgent questions about Syria’s internal security and the credibility of a regime now accused of enabling former extremists.
Syria’s decade long civil war fractured the nation and gave rise to groups like ISIS, which terrorized both religious minorities and government institutions. Although ISIS lost its territorial stronghold in 2019, the new Syrian government led by HTS premio Ahmed Alsharaa also known as Abu Muhammad AlJulani, a former ISIS commander turned president of Syria has allegedly reintegrated former ISIS fighters into official security and intelligence structures. These covert alliances, meant to serve regime survival, now appear to be reigniting the same violent forces Syria once claimed to defeat.
According to the Interior Ministry, the attacker opened fire inside the church before detonating an explosives vest. Two accomplices reportedly fled the scene and remain at large. Local witnesses report panic and chaos as worshippers, including children, screamed for help. Security forces are now conducting raids, but critics say these reactive measures come too late, as extremist elements have already been absorbed and legitimized within state mechanisms.
The attack exposes the dangerous consequences of the Syrian regime’s strategy of co-opting former enemies. With ex-ISIS members allegedly embedded in state agencies, the distinction between the state and terrorism has blurred. This not only undermines Syria’s claim of victory over terror but also reintroduces instability that could ripple across Lebanon, Iraq, and Turkey nations already burdened by Syrian conflict spillover.
This bombing struck at the heart of a religious minority already devastated by war and displacement. Churches like Mar Elias have long offered sanctuary in a climate of fear. The killing of children and elderly worshippers adds another scar to Syria’s already immense human suffering, while emergency services underfunded and overwhelmed struggle to respond.
While state media condemned the bombing as an “ISIS terror attack,” opposition voices and human rights groups are calling out the regime’s complicity. International observers have voiced alarm, with some accusing Assad’s government of “playing with fire” by enabling known extremists. The UN issued a cautious statement urging protection of civilians, but so far, no international body has directly addressed the regime’s alleged role in the security failure.
Sunday’s attack is more than just a terrorist incident it’s a symptom of a deeper, more disturbing reality: Syria is now governed in part by the very forces it once fought. As the Assad regime embraces former extremists for political survival, the line between governance and terror continues to vanish. Syrians are left to pay the price once again with their lives.
