DAMASCUS: A shooting and suicide bombing at a Damascus church during a packed service on Sunday killed at least 22 people, authorities said, blaming a member of the Islamic State group for the unprecedented attack.

The international community condemned the attack, the first of its kind in the Syrian capital since Islamist-led forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.

It was also the first inside a church in Syria since the country’s civil war erupted in 2011, according to a monitor.
Security remains one of the greatest challenges for Syria’s new authorities, with the international community repeatedly urging them to protect minorities.

AFP correspondents saw first responders transporting people from the Orthodox church as security forces cordoned off the area.The church itself was strewn with wood from fittings and pews, with fallen icons and pools of blood on the floor.

“A suicide attacker affiliated with the Daesh (IS) terrorist group entered the Saint Elias church in the Dwelaa area… opened fire then blew himself up with an explosive belt,” an interior ministry statement said. State news agency SANA, citing the ministry of health, reported a death toll of 22, with 63 injured.

Lawrence Maamari who was inside the church when the attack happened told AFP a man had entered and begun shooting. People “tried to stop him before he blew himself up”, he added.

Ziad Helou, 40, who was at a shop nearby, said he heard gunfire then an explosion, and saw glass flying.”We saw fire in the church and the remains of wooden benches thrown all the way to the entrance,” he said.