Explosion at Alawite mosque in Syria’s Homs kills six

• Syrian interior ministry says 21 others were wounded in explosion
• Local official says blast took place during Friday noon prayers
• Black smoke covered part of mosque, with carpets scattered nearby.

A deadly explosion hit a mosque in a predominantly Alawite area of Syria’s Homs on Friday, said authorities who reported at least six people killed.

“A terrorist explosion targeted the Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque during Friday prayers in Al-Khadri Street in the Wadi al-Dahab neighbourhood of Homs,” the interior ministry said in a statement, adding that six people were killed and 21 others wounded.

Homs was the scene of heavy sectarian violence during Syria’s civil war.

Syria’s state news agency Sana, which also reported the blast, said its cause and nature were being investigated.

According to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor, it was not immediately clear whether the blast “was caused by a suicide attack or an explosive device”.

A local security source in Homs told AFP on condition of anonymity that the explosion may have been caused by “an explosive device placed inside the mosque”.

A resident of the area, requesting anonymity out of fear for his safety, told AFP people “heard a loud explosion, followed by chaos and panic in the neighbourhood”.

“No one dares to leave their house, and we are hearing ambulance sirens,” he added.

Sana published photos from inside the mosque, one of which showed a hole in a wall.

Black smoke covered part of the mosque, with carpets and books scattered nearby.

Since Assad’s ouster in 2024, the Observatory and ordinary Syrians in Homs have reported kidnappings and killings targeting members of the minority community.

Syria’s coastal areas saw the massacre of Alawite civilians in March, with authorities accusing armed Assad supporters of sparking the violence by attacking security forces.

A national commission of inquiry said at least 1,426 members of the minority community were killed at the time, while the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor put the toll at more than 1,700.