Damascus, July 16 (SANA)Syria’s Interior Ministry on Thursday released video confessions from detained ISIS members involved in the June 2025 terrorist bombing ofMar Elias Churchin Damascus, saying the group sought to exploit the post-liberation security vacuum to destabilize the country and inflame sectarian tensions.

According to the confessions, the detainees saidISISredeployed fighters from the Syrian desert into cities following the fall of the deposed regime, establishing sleeper cells across several provinces to launch attacks against the new Syrian government and undermine public confidence in the state.

One detainee, identified as Abd al-Ilah al-Jumaili from the Damascus suburb of al-Hajar al-Aswad, said he joined ISIS in 2017 and later transported two operatives from al-Nabk in the Damascus countryside to the capital, adding that he later learned one of them had been assigned to carry out the church bombing.

Another detainee, identified as Abu Waqqas, said an ISIS operative known as Abu Mujahid had outlined a plan to attack Mar Elias Church by opening fire on worshippers before detonating an explosive vest. He also described a separate plot targeting theSayyida Zainab shrine.

A third detainee said ISIS initially planned to target government positions to portray the new authorities as incapable of maintaining security, adding that each provincial branch of the group had military and security commanders responsible for selecting targets.

An officer from Syria’sCounterterrorismDirectorate said ISIS deliberately targeted places of worship associated with different religious communities in an attempt to deepen sectarian divisions and weaken the country’s new institutions.

He said the Mar Elias Church bombing was carried out by an operative who was unable to refuse orders, while a planned attack on the Sayyida Zainab shrine was postponed because of heightened security measures.

The officer added that surveillance of Mar Elias Church had been assigned to a suspect identified as Khaled Abu Aisha before he was ordered to carry out the attack.

Abdul Rahman Khadra, director of the Moral Guidance Directorate at the Interior Ministry, said ISIS ideology was rooted in violence and that the group targeted civilians and security personnel alike, describing its objective as destroying Syria’s social fabric.

Khadra said the Syrian state remained committed to protecting all communities and safeguarding religious events and places of worship against terrorist threats.

Survivors and relatives of the victims also recounted the aftermath of the bombing and called for justice, stressing that attempts to incite sectarian strife would not undermine Syria’s longstanding social cohesion.

TheInterior Ministryannounced in June 2025 the arrest of the leader of the ISIS cell responsible for the Mar Elias Church bombing, along with five others involved in the attack.