Suicide bomber kills at least 22 in Greek Orthodox church in Syria
DWEIL'A, Syria — A suicide bomber in Syria opened fire then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church filled with people praying on Sunday, killing at least 22 and wounding 63 others, state media reported.
The attack took place in Dweil'a on the outskirts of Damascus inside the Mar Elias Church, according to state media SANA, citing the Health Ministry for the toll of dead and wounded. Britain-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were at least 19 peopled killed and dozens wounded, but did not give exact numbers. Some local media reported that children were among the casualties.
The attack on the church was the first of its kind in Syria in years, and comes as Damascus under its de facto Islamist rule is trying to win the support of minorities. As President Ahmad al-Sharaa struggles to exert authority across the country, there have been concerns about the presence of sleeper cells of extremist groups in the war-torn country.
No group immediately claimed responsibility Sunday. Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba said in a news conference that a preliminary investigation pointed to the extremist Islamic State group. The ministry said one gunman entered the church and fired at the people inside before detonating himself with an explosives vest, echoing some witness testimonies.
'The security of places of worship is a red line,' he said, adding that IS and remaining members of the ousted Assad government are trying to destabilize Syria.
Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mostafa condemned the bombing, calling it a terrorist attack.
'This cowardly act goes against the civic values that brings us together,' he said on X. 'We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship … and we also affirm the state's pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organizations and to protect society from all attacks threatening its safety.'
Witnesses said the gunman's face was covered when he entered the church and started firing. When a crowd charged at him to remove him from the church, he detonated his explosives at the entrance.
Syria's Social Affairs and Labor Minister Hind Kabawat, the country's Christian and female minister, met with the clergy at the church in the evening to express her condolences.
'People were praying safely under the eyes of God,' said Father Fadi Ghattas, who said he saw at least 20 people killed with his own eyes. 'There were 350 people praying at the church.'
However, Meletius Shahati, a church priest, said there was a second gunman who shot at the church door before the other person detonated himself.
Security forces and first responders rushed to the church. Panicked survivors wailed, as one lady fell to her knees and burst into tears. A photo circulated by Syrian state media SANA showed the church's pews covered in debris and blood.
Issam Nasr, who was praying at the church, said he saw people 'blown to bits.'
'We have never held a knife in our lives. All we ever carried were our prayers,' he said.
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The result was a renewables gold rush, with wind farms springing up across the UK. The scheme has since been closed to new entrants but owing to the length of contracts awarded, it continues to account for £6.8bn of levies on bills. The cumulative costs since 2002 come to a whopping £67bn. In 2008, Ed Miliband, in his previous stint as energy secretary, also helped to create the feed-in tariff (FiTs) to boost small-scale renewables such as solar and low-carbon electricity generation. This pays property owners who put solar panels on their roof for every unit of power generated, even if they use the power themselves. FiTs have added a cumulative £15bn to bills. Other similar schemes include the energy company obligation and the warm homes discount. Altogether, say analysts at Cornwall Insight, such policy costs add a total of £198 to the average consumer bill per year. 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'And then you call an end to investment in renewables.' In search of a solution So what can be done to bring power prices down? For environmental groups, the primary blame for high energy prices will always lie with fossil fuels. They argue that the best way to cut bills is to drive down our reliance on gas by continuing to build more renewables, but crucially, alongside battery storage and grid upgrades. One of the most influential climate groups is Ember, a London-based think tank that was called on by Labour and Mr Miliband to draft the party's plans for clean power. In particular, Ember helped to inspire the pledge for clean power by 2030 and provided the workings behind Mr Miliband's ill-conceived pledge to cut £300 from household energy bills. Josie Murdoch, an analyst at Ember, says: 'Before the energy crisis, the UK had similar electricity prices to other European countries. 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Each would have its own wholesale price. This would mean that when there is too much wind power in Scotland, prices would plummet, while in other areas, higher prices would incentivise the construction of new wind farms closer to cities. Meanwhile, the Climate Change Committee has called for ministers to take levies off electricity bills to make it cheaper for people to own electric cars and heat pumps. Yet this idea is riven with political risk, not least because ministers would have to make up the revenue either by shifting the levies to gas bills or general taxation. The Government insists that levies have successfully driven investment in renewables, reducing the UK's exposure to volatile global fossil fuel prices and protecting consumers against future price shocks. 'Through our clean power mission, we will get off the roller-coaster of fossil fuel markets – protecting business and household finances with clean, homegrown energy that we control,' a government spokesman says. Ministers have also increased financial support for energy-intensive businesses by providing relief on network charges and other fees. But Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, says that while in office she had to constantly battle with officials who wanted to add even more levies to bills. 'Cheap energy has to be our priority – otherwise we will keep offshoring British industry to China, which is just mad,' she says. In Sheffield, Marcegaglia's Brüggmann says the plant is preparing to invest in a new state-of-the-art electric furnace that will reduce electricity costs and boost production capacity. It will also benefit from the new government scheme to cut power bills. Yet even with that support, steelmakers will still face higher electricity prices than competitors in France and Germany, according to industry calculations. 'We want to produce more next year,' he says. 'We're the only producer of stainless steel still here. But what's the Government's commitment to this industry?'
