Lebanon condemns Damascus church attack
by Naharnet Newsdesk 23 June 2025, 13:37
President Joseph Aoun, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi have condemned a weekend suicide attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Damascus that killed 22 people.
Al-Rahi condemned "the targeting of Christians in the East" while Berri said that "terrorism has no sect or religion" and "terrorists are enemies of God, regardless to which religion they belong."
President Aoun called for the unity of the Syrian people and PM Salam expressed the Lebanese government's full solidarity with Syria, describing the attack as "a despicable criminal act that aims to sow discord and division within the Syrian people."
A suicide bomber had 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.
The attack took place in Dweil'a on the outskirts of Damascus inside the Mar Elias Church.
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.
Syrian Interior Ministry spokesman Noureddine Al-Baba said in a news conference that their preliminary investigation points to the extremist Islamic State group.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LBCI
2 hours ago
- LBCI
Syria's interior ministry announces arrests over Damascus church attack
Syria's interior ministry said Monday that authorities had arrested several suspects in connection with a suicide attack on a church the day before, with the minister saying the operation targeted cells affiliated with the Islamic State group. A ministry statement reported the arrest of "a number of criminals involved in the attack" during a security operation near Damascus, while Interior Minister Anas Khattab said the operation targeted "positions of terrorist cells linked to the Daesh group," using the Arabic acronym for IS. AFP
LBCI
2 hours ago
- LBCI
Solidarity with Iran: Will Hezbollah join Iran-Israel-US war?
Report by Bassam Abou Zeid, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi From the Baabda Presidential Palace to the headquarters of Parliament in Ain el-Tineh, Lebanese officials are sending clear reassurances that Hezbollah will not engage in the ongoing conflict between Iran, Israel, and the United States. Intermittent communications are underway between President Joseph Aoun's advisors and three key Hezbollah figures: Wafiq Safa on security matters, Hussein Khalil, and MP Mohammad Raad on political affairs. Direct contact with the group's Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, has not been established. Meanwhile, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri maintains daily, intensive contact with Hezbollah's leadership. Berri has publicly declared with complete certainty that Lebanon will not be dragged into the escalating war. According to informed sources, multiple American warnings have been delivered to the Lebanese government regarding the risks of Hezbollah entering the conflict. U.S. envoy Tom Barrack and Ambassador Lisa Johnson have conveyed these messages. At the same time, Israel has issued its own warnings—including military action, most notably the targeting of Al-Manar TV's broadcast station in Taoumat Niha. The strike marked a significant escalation, as the station had not been targeted throughout the recent war but came precisely as the U.S. was striking Iran's nuclear sites. Hezbollah has yet to officially state its position on joining the war. While its leadership continues to issue political statements in solidarity with Iran, the group has shown no indications of planning military involvement. Sources close to the ongoing contacts with Hezbollah cite multiple reasons for its current restraint. The group recognizes that entering the war would not significantly alter the evolving regional equations, particularly as its military capabilities are no longer what they once were. Preserving remaining resources and avoiding exposure to Israel's military machine has become a strategic priority, especially with supply routes severed and diminished Iranian support. The same sources emphasize that both Hezbollah's support base and many Lebanese citizens categorically reject any return to conflict, especially as the country has yet to recover from the fallout of the previous "support war." There are also growing concerns about the broader implications for Lebanon's Shiite community if the situation escalates further.
Nahar Net
3 hours ago
- Nahar Net
Iran attacks US base in Qatar in retaliation for strikes on nuclear sites
by Naharnet Newsdesk 23 June 2025, 19:56 Iran announced it had launched missiles at a major U.S. base in Qatar on Monday in retaliation for American strikes on key nuclear facilities, with explosions ringing out in Doha and projectiles seen streaking overhead. Qatar, which lies 190 kilometers (120 miles) south of Iran and is home to the largest U.S. military facility in the Middle East, said its "air defences successfully intercepted a missile attack targeting Al Udeid Air Base". Iran's National Security Council confirmed having targeted the base "in response to the U.S. aggressive and insolent action against Iran's nuclear sites and facilities". In its statement, the council said the number of missiles used "was the same as the number of bombs that the U.S. had used", in a signal that it had calibrated its response to be directly proportional. After more than a week of Israeli strikes on nuclear and military targets across Iran, the United States joined its ally's campaign on Sunday, carrying out attacks on three key Iranian nuclear facilities, including on an underground uranium enrichment facility at Fordo using massive bunker-busting bombs. With international concern mounting that Israel's campaign in Iran could lead to regional spillover -- concern that only intensified after the U.S. strikes -- French President Emmanuel Macron said after the Iranian retaliation that "the spiral of chaos must end". Iran's security council maintained that its "action does not pose any threat to our friendly and brotherly country, Qatar". But Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said his country "reserves the right to respond directly in a manner proportional to the nature and scale of this blatant aggression". Its much larger neighbour Saudi Arabia, historically a rival of Iran, condemned Tehran's attack "in the strongest terms", and offered "all its capabilities to support the sisterly State of Qatar in any measures it takes". AFP reporters heard blasts in central Doha and in Lusail, north of the capital, on Monday evening, and saw projectiles moving across the night sky. A U.S. defense official said Al Udeid was "attacked by short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles originating from Iran", adding there were no immediate reports of casualties. Ansari said the base had been evacuated as a precaution ahead of time. Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps said six missiles had hit the base, according to state media. Iranian official press agency IRNA had reported that missiles were also launched at a U.S. base in Iraq, though the National Security Council made no mention of Iraq in its statement. Iraqi security and military sources told AFP that Iran had not attacked U.S. bases there "so far". Earlier in the day Qatar had announced the temporary closure of its airspace in light of "developments in the region", while foreign embassies there including that of the United States had warned their citizens to shelter in place. Neighboring Bahrain and Kuwait also temporarily halted air traffic in the wake of the missile attack. President Donald Trump boasted that Sunday's strikes had "obliterated" Iran's nuclear capabilities, but other officials said it was too soon to assess the impact on Iran's atomic programme. - Tehran strikes - Just as Iran was announcing the new attacks, blasts were heard in the north of Tehran, according to an AFP journalist, who reported yellow flashes typical of Iranian air defenses in the sky over the capital shortly before 9:00 pm (1730 GMT). Earlier in the day Israel reported carrying out what it said were its most powerful strikes yet on Tehran. Iran, in turn, fired missile barrages at Israel. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the military hit sites in Tehran including Evin prison, which Katz said "holds political prisoners and regime opponents", as well as command centres for the domestic Basij paramilitary and the Revolutionary Guards. Iranian media and the Israeli military said Israel also struck Fordo on Monday "in order to obstruct access routes" to the site. Israel's national electricity company reported "damage near a strategic infrastructure facility" in the south that disrupted the power supply, without naming the location or specifying the cause. The country's military censorship rules bar the publication of some details about damage in Israel. Iranian media, meanwhile, said Israel's strikes hit a power supply system in Tehran, triggering temporary outages. Israeli strikes on Iran have killed more than 400 people, Iran's health ministry has said. Iran's attacks on Israel have killed 24 people, according to official figures. China urged both Iran and Israel to prevent the conflict from spilling over, warning of potential economic fallout. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called on China to help deter Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for one-fifth of the world's oil supply. - Trump floats 'regime change' - After the Pentagon stressed the goal of U.S. intervention was not to topple the Iranian government, Trump openly toyed with the idea. "If the current Iranian Regime is unable to MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN, why wouldn't there be a Regime change???" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform. His press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday that Trump was "still interested and engaging in" diplomacy. She suggested, however, that Iranians could overthrow their government if it did not agree to a diplomatic solution. Top U.S. general Dan Caine has said early assessments indicated the U.S. strikes caused "extremely severe damage" at all three nuclear sites. Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that it had not been possible to assess the underground damage at Fordo. "Armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never take place," he added. Iran has consistently denied seeking an atomic bomb, and Grossi has said there was no evidence to suggest it was doing so despite the Islamic republic being the only non-nuclear armed state to enrich uranium to 60 percent.
