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Egypt Buries Officer who Thought to Break Bar Lev Line

Maj. Gen. Baki Zaki Youssef. Asharq Al-Awsat
Maj. Gen. Baki Zaki Youssef. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Egypt Buries Officer who Thought to Break Bar Lev Line

Maj. Gen. Baki Zaki Youssef. Asharq Al-Awsat
Maj. Gen. Baki Zaki Youssef. Asharq Al-Awsat

The Egyptian army officer credited with the idea to destroy the Israeli Bar Lev line on the Suez Canal's eastern bank during the 1973 Arab Israeli war, has been laid to rest.

Baki Zaki Youssef died on Saturday at the age of 87.

His funeral took place on Sunday at Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church in the district of Heliopolis in Cairo.

Youssef has been hailed as a hero for thinking to destroy the Bar Lev line with water pumps.

In 1973, Egyptian forces launched a surprise attack across the Suez Canal, cutting through the Bar Lev line of Israeli defenses.

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At Least 15 Killed in Suicide Bombing at Damascus Church

A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
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At Least 15 Killed in Suicide Bombing at Damascus Church

A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

At least 15 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Syria's capital Damascus on Sunday, security sources said.

Syria's interior ministry said the suicide bomber was an ISIS member. He entered the church, opened fire and then detonated his explosive vest, the ministry added in a statement.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two men were involved in the attack, including the one who blew himself up.

Syria's state news agency cited the health ministry as putting the preliminary casualty toll at nine dead and 13 injured.

Some local media reported that children were among the casualties.

A livestream from the site by Syria's civil defense, the White Helmets, showed scenes of destruction from within the church, including a bloodied floor and shattered church pews and masonry.

Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mostafa condemned the attack, calling it a terrorist attack.

“This cowardly act goes against the civic values that brings us together,” he said in a post 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.”