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Syrian intelligence says it thwarted Daesh attack on Sayeda Zeinab shrine

The foiled attack will stoke fears that Daesh is hoping to stage a comeback in Syria following the fall of Assad's regime

Published: Sun 12 Jan 2025, 4:13 PM

Updated: Sun 12 Jan 2025, 4:14 PM

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  • Reuters

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An aerial view shows the shrine of Sayeda Zeinab in the southern suburbs of Damascus on December 11, 2024.— AFP file

An aerial view shows the shrine of Sayeda Zeinab in the southern suburbs of Damascus on December 11, 2024.— AFP file

Syria's Intelligence Directorate foiled an attack by the Daesh group on the Sayeda Zeinab shrine in a Damascus suburb, a site of mass pilgrimage for Shias, state news agency Sana reported on Saturday.

It said members of the cell were arrested before they could detonate an explosion inside the shrine.

The foiled attack will stoke fears that Daesh is hoping to stage a comeback in Syria following the fall last month of President Bashar Al Assad.

Some Syrians and foreign powers have worried that the country's new leaders, who are from the Hayat Tahrir Al Sham (HTS) group that forced Assad out on December 8, may impose strict Islamic governance on a country with numerous minority groups such as Druze, Kurds, Christians and Shias.

But the announcement by Syria's de facto government that it thwarted an attack targeting Shias comes amid reassurances it will protect religious minorities.

"The General Intelligence Directorate is utilising all its resources to confront all attempts to target the Syrian people in all their diversity," an intelligence official told Sana.

Daesh has claimed previous attacks in and around the shrine, including last year and a bombing in 2017 that killed at least 40 people.

Defence of the shrine had been a rallying call during Syria's 13-year civil war that drew militiamen from around the region to back Assad.

But Assad's ouster last month significantly diminished the position of Shia forces in Syria, including Iran and the Tehran-allied Lebanese group Hezbollah.



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