Syrian intelligence revealed that ISIL has foiled an attempt to blow up a Shia shrine ISIL/ISIS news

The Sayyida Zeinab Mosque in Damascus has previously been targeted by ISIL and other militant groups in Syria.

Syrian authorities foiled an attempt by ISIL (ISIS) fighters to blow up a revered Shiite shrine in a suburb of Damascus, state news agency SANA reported.

Intelligence and security forces “succeeded in thwarting an ISIL attempt to carry out a bomb attack in the Sayyida Zeinab shrine,” a Syrian intelligence source 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 its forms,” ​​the intelligence official told SANA.

The Ministry of Interior has released photos of four people it says are members of the ISIL group arrested in a rural area outside the capital.

It published pictures of the weapons allegedly seized from the suspects, including smartphones, two rifles, three explosives and several hand grenades.

The photos show the identity cards of two Lebanese and one Palestinian refugee living in Lebanon.

Al Jazeera’s Hamza Mohammed reported from Damascus that “the temple they tried to attack is on the southern outskirts of Damascus.”

“It is an important religious site for Shia Muslims. They believe that the grandson of Prophet Muhammad is buried (there).

Muhammad pointed out that this is not the first attack on the temple.

In the year In 2008, there was a car bomb… (in which) 17 people were killed,” he said.

In addition, ISIL has previously targeted the Damascus Shrine, the most visited Shia shrine in Syria.

The group claimed at least 70 lives in three blasts near the shrine several weeks ago.

In the year In July 2023, a bomb attack near the cemetery killed at least 6 people.

Shia shrines are frequently attacked by Sunni groups such as ISIL in Syria and neighboring Iraq.

Iranian-backed guards were stationed at the gates of Sayyida Zeinab’s mausoleum but fled shortly before Sunni-led rebels stormed the Syrian capital last month and ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

Iranian-backed fighters have been al-Assad’s key backers since the war broke out in 2011.