A bombing at a mosque in Syria during Friday prayers killed at least eight people and wounded 18 others, authorities said.
Images released by Syria’s state-run Arab News Agency showed blood on the mosque’s carpets, holes in the walls, shattered windows and fire damage. The Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque is located in Homs, Syria's third-largest city.
SANA, citing a security source, said that preliminary investigations indicate that explosive devices were planted inside the mosque. Authorities were searching for the perpetrators, who have not yet been identified, and a security cordon was placed around the building, Syria’s Interior Ministry said in a statement.
In a statement on Telegram, the Saraya Ansar al-Sunna said its fighters "detonated a number of explosive devices" in the mosque.
The same group had previously claimed a suicide attack in June in which a gunman opened fire and then detonated an explosive vest inside a Greek Orthodox church in Dweil’a, on the outskirts of Damascus, killing 25 people as worshippers prayed on a Sunday.
Several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon, condemned the attack.
