UN: The head denounces the Syrian mosque assault

UN: In a statement, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres categorically denounced the terrorist assault that killed people in a mosque in Homs, Syria.

According to the statement released by spokesman Stephane Dujarric, the incident took place at the Ali Bin Abi Talib mosque in the Wadi al-Dahab suburb of Homs during Friday prayers, as reported by the Xinhua news agency.

According to the statement, Guterres reaffirmed that assaults on civilians and houses of religion are intolerable and emphasized the need to find and prosecute those guilty.

“The Secretary-General extends his condolences to the families of those killed and expresses his sympathy to all those injured, wishing them a prompt and full recovery,” it said.

Syria’s health officials said on Friday that eight people had died as a result of the explosion that hit the mosque.

According to preliminary reports, an explosion at a mosque in the Wadi al-Dhahab area of Homs, a city in central Syria, during Friday prayers resulted in five fatalities and twenty-one injuries, according to Syrian health officials.

Syria’s Health Ministry’s head of referral, ambulance, and emergency services, Najib al-Naasan, told the state-run SANA news agency that the number was preliminary. He said that rescue personnel hurried the injured to neighboring hospitals after the explosion took place inside the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque.

As investigations got underway, security and medical personnel sealed off the area. Security has been strengthened around the location, according to the authorities.

The explosion within the mosque was also reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British organization, which said that it was still unclear whether the explosion was a suicide strike.