Twenty people were killed and dozens injured in a bombing that targeted St. Elias Church in Damascus on Sunday evening, while authorities blamed the Islamic State group.
A source in the Syrian Interior Ministry told Al Jazeera that the bombing killed 19 people, before the Ministry of Health announced that the death toll had risen to 20, with 52 others injured.
The Syrian Interior Ministry said in a statement: "A suicide bomber affiliated with the terrorist organization ISIS entered St. Elias Church in the Douweila neighborhood of the capital, Damascus." The statement added that he "opened fire and then detonated himself with an explosive vest."
Meanwhile, the Syrian News Agency reported that "ambulances were transporting the injured and victims" from the scene. It added that Internal Security Forces were deployed to secure the area.
This is the first bombing of its kind in Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime on December 8.
Security forces affiliated with the new government have carried out campaigns against ISIS militants and clashed with members of the organization in Aleppo Governorate, northwest of the country.
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