Syria arrests IS members over Homs mosque blast

Syrian authorities said Monday that they had arrested two members of the Islamic State (IS) group, accusing them of being behind last month's deadly bombing of a mosque in an Alawite area of Homs.

The 26 December attack, which killed at least eight people, sparked mass protests by the Alawite community in the city and elsewhere, as fears persist of renewed sectarian violence after hundreds of members of the religious minority were killed in their coastal heartland in March.

In a statement, the interior ministry announced the arrest of "Ahmed Attallah al-Diab and Anas al-Zarrad, who belong to the Daesh (IS) terrorist organisation and are responsible for the bombing that targeted the Imam Ali Bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dahab neighbourhood".

The ministry added that it had seized "explosive devices, various weapons and different types of ammunition, in addition to documents and digital evidence proving their involvement in terrorist acts".

Though authorities blamed IS for the attack, it was claimed by the extremist Sunni group Saraya Ansar al-Sunna, which experts say serves as a "front" for IS.

The blast was the second in a place of worship since Islamist authorities took power a year ago after toppling longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.

The first was a deadly suicide bombing at a Damascus church in June.

Saraya Ansar al-Sunna had also claimed responsibility for that attack, with authorities once again accusing IS.

IS once controlled swathes of Syria before its territorial defeat in 2019.

Its fighters still maintain a presence in the country, particularly in its vast desert.

On December 13, two US soldiers and an American civilian were killed in an attack Washington blamed on a lone IS gunman in Syria's Palmyra.

Since then, Washington, which leads an international coalition against IS, has announced several strikes against the group in Syria, most recently over the weekend.

In recent weeks, Syrian authorities have said they carried out repeated operations against IS cells across the country, sometimes in coordination with the coalition.

On Friday, the interior ministry announced the arrest of the group's "military commander of the Levant Province".

(AFP)