A woman reacts upon her arrival to attend a mass celebrated by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch at the Church of Saint Elias, the day after a suicide attack targeted this place of worship, in the Dweilaa neighborhood of Damascus, on June 23, 2025. (Credit: Bakr Alkasem/AFP)
A Telegram message attributed to the obscure Syrian jihadist group "Saraya Ansar al-Sunna" (Brigade of the Partisans of the Sunnis) claimed responsibility Tuesday for the suicide bombing that struck Saint Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus two days earlier. The June 22 attack killed at least 25 people and wounded 63, according to the latest toll.
In the statement, the group described the bombing as a "martyrdom operation" carried out by a man identified as Mohammad Zayn al-Abidin Abou Othman. It framed the attack as retaliation for what it called “provocations by the Nazarenes (Christians) of Damascus against the call to God and the people of faith — provocations that have shifted from suggestion to open declaration.”
The message claimed Christians “dared to defile the foundations of the daawa,” or the Islamic call to faith, but did not specify what event triggered the violence. No photos or videos accompanied the message.
The incident may be linked to a March altercation outside the Saint Elias church in the mixed Dweilaa neighborhood, where residents reportedly clashed with individuals broadcasting Islamic chants from a car. A video of the incident circulated online.
Syrian authorities had initially blamed the Islamic State group for the attack. But Aymenn Jawad al-Tamimi, a Syria-based analyst, told AFP that Saraya Ansar al-Sunna may be "a pro-IS offshoot composed largely of defectors from Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other factions, though it currently operates independently of IS." He did not rule out the possibility that the group is simply an IS front.
Citing an internal source, Tamimi said the group is led by a disillusioned former HTS commander and includes a former member of Hurras al-Din, an al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria that announced its dissolution earlier this year at the order of the new Syrian government.
"What comes next will offer you no respite"
In its message, the group lashed out at Syria’s interim government, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa (also known as Abu Mohammad al-Jolani), saying, “What was published by the Jolani government’s media is entirely false, fabricated, and an insult to the intelligence of the people of Sham.”
On Monday, Syrian authorities announced the arrest of six suspects in connection with the attack, including the cell leader. Two other individuals — one believed to have planned the attack and another allegedly preparing a separate operation — were killed, the Interior Ministry said.
Saraya Ansar al-Sunna vowed more violence: “We reaffirm — and our word is final — that what comes next will offer you no respite. Our fighters — martyrs and infiltrators — are fully prepared, armed, and standing guard.”
The Telegram channel making the claims was created on March 2 and has fewer than 2,800 followers. Its posts closely resemble Islamic State rhetoric, including accusations that President Sharaa is an “American agent” and too lenient, particularly for pardoning former regime officials.
Authenticity under scrutiny
Multiple Telegram accounts share the group’s name, and the first surfaced only in January 2025. Experts say the group could consist of defectors with no formal affiliation. A message dated May 10 claimed the group had become active in Tripoli, North Lebanon, though no attacks have been recorded there.
The group frequently calls for violence and posts reports of alleged actions across several channels. It also claimed responsibility for massacres in early March targeting Alawite communities in northwestern Syria, where more than 800 people — mostly civilians — were killed, according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
In a Feb. 13 article published by the BBC, jihadism expert Mina al-Lami expressed “serious doubts” about the group’s authenticity, noting it has “received very little recognition or attention from jihadist and Islamist circles online.”
Lami outlined three potential explanations for the group’s identity: an extremist faction aiming to spark sectarian war; a covert arm of the Jolani government conducting black operations; or a propaganda tool of the pro-Assad regime designed to fuel sectarian tensions and discredit the current leadership. She concluded that no single theory could yet be confirmed.
