Suicide bombing on Syrian church kills at least 22, injures dozens
At least 22 people have been killed and 63 injured in a suicide bombing at a church in Syria's capital of Damascus, according to state media.
WARNING: This story contains distressing content.
Worshippers had gathered for a packed Sunday service at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighbourhood when the attack took place.
The suicide bomber entered and opened fire, before detonating his explosive vest, Syria's interior ministry said in a statement.
It said the suicide bomber was a member of Islamic State (IS).
A security source told Reuters two men were involved in the attack, including the man who blew himself up.
It is the first suicide bombing in Damascus since Bashar al-Assad was toppled by an Islamist-led rebel insurgency in December.
The blast sparked panic and fear in the church, which had been full of worshippers, including children and the elderly, eyewitnesses said.
The building was strewn with wood from fittings and pews after the attack, with fallen icons and pools of blood on the floor.
Families are still searching for missing loved ones, with some local media reporting children were among the dead.
Lawrence Maamari was inside the church when the attack happened.
He told AFP a man had entered and begun shooting, with people trying "to stop him before he blew himself up".
Ziad Helou, who was at a shop nearby, said he heard gunfire then an explosion, and saw glass flying.
"We saw fire in the church and the remains of wooden benches thrown all the way to the entrance," he said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it was the first suicide attack inside a church in Syria since war erupted in 2011.
IS has been behind several attempted attacks on churches in Syria since Mr Assad's fall.
But a security source told Reuters this was the first to succeed.
The Orthodox patriarchate in Damascus urged authorities to "bear full responsibility for what … is happening concerning the violation of the sanctity of churches, and to ensure the protection of all citizens".
The United Nations special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, expressed "outrage at this heinous crime", calling for a full investigation.
Syria's foreign ministry described the attack as "a desperate attempt to undermine national coexistence and to destabilise the country".
Since the new authorities took power, the international community has urged the government to protect minorities and ensure their participation in Syria's transition, particularly after sectarian violence in recent months.
Syria's interior minister, Anas Khattab, said specialised teams had begun investigating.
"These terrorist acts will not stop the efforts of the Syrian state in achieving civil peace," he said in a statement.
Earlier this month, he said IS had attempted to carry out attacks against Christian and Shiite communities that authorities had thwarted.
Syria's Christian community has shrunk from about 1 million before the war to under 300,000 due to displacement and emigration.
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