Syrian intelligence says it thwarted ISIL attempt to blow up Shiite shrine | ISIL/ISIS news
The shrine of Sayyida Zeinab in Damascus has previously been targeted by ISIL and other armed groups in Syria.
Syrian authorities foiled an attempt by ISIL (ISIS) fighters to blow up a revered Shiite shrine in the suburbs of Damascus, state news agency SANA reported.
Intelligence and security forces “succeeded in thwarting an ISIL attempt to carry out a bomb attack inside Shrine of Sayyida Zeinab”a source inside the Syrian intelligence agency told SANA on Saturday, adding that several people had been arrested.
“The General Intelligence Directorate is using all its resources to counter all attempts to attack the Syrian people in all their diversity,” an intelligence official told SANA.
The Interior Ministry has released photos of four men it says are members of an ISIL cell who were arrested in the countryside outside the capital.
He also posted pictures of equipment allegedly taken from the suspect, including smartphones, two rifles, three explosive devices and several hand grenades.
The photos showed the identity documents of two Lebanese and a Palestinian refugee living in Lebanon.
“The shrine they were trying to target is on the southern outskirts of Damascus,” Al Jazeera’s Hamza Mohamed said, reporting from Damascus.
“It is an important religious site for Shia Muslims. They believe that the granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad is buried [there].”
Mohamed pointed out that this is not the first time that this shrine has been targeted.
“In 2008 there was a car bomb explosion… [in which] 17 people were killed,” he said.
ISIL has also previously targeted the shrine in Damascus, Syria’s most visited Shiite pilgrimage site, claiming responsibility for a February 2016 twin suicide attack near the mausoleum that killed 134 people.
The group also claimed responsibility for a triple blast near the shrine a few weeks earlier that killed at least 70 people.
A bombing in July 2023 killed at least six people near the mausoleum.
Shiite shrines are a frequent target of attacks by Sunni groups such as ISIL, both in Syria and in neighboring Iraq.
Iran-backed guards were once stationed at the gates of the Sayyid Zeinab mausoleum, but fled last month, shortly before Sunni rebels stormed the Syrian capital and ousted President Bashar al-Assad.
Iran-backed fighters have been al-Assad’s key supporters since the war broke out in 2011.
