Syria’s Interior Ministry announced the arrest of an Islamic State leader whom it said was responsible for a bombing targeting a mosque in a predominantly Alawite neighbourhood of Homs in December 2025. The attack killed eight people, and the ministry also accused him of plotting other sectarian attacks.
The ministry said the General Intelligence Service, in co-ordination with the Internal Security Command in Damascus countryside, arrested Khaled Raed Bayrouni, known as ‘Abu Hassan Doushka’, during a security operation in the town of Hujeira in Damascus countryside. It described Bayrouni as “the executive arm of the terrorist Islamic State group in Homs”.
Bombing allegations and investigation continue
According to the ministry’s statement, Bayrouni is accused of involvement in preparing and using explosive devices, carrying out sectarian attacks, and responsibility for the bombing targeting the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dhahab neighbourhood of Homs. The ministry added that investigations with him were still under way.
The bombing took place in December 2025 in a neighbourhood predominantly inhabited by members of the Alawite community, to which former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs. Syrian authorities announced in January that they had arrested two people linked to the attack. The Syrian authorities attributed the attack to the Islamic State, while a small Sunni group called the Saraya Ansar al-Sunna Brigades claimed responsibility.
Experts believe the group serves as a front for the Islamic State. The bombing was followed by mass demonstrations by members of the Alawite community in Homs and other parts of Syria, amid fears of renewed violence after previous waves of sectarian violence.
Islamic State cells remain active in Syria
The Islamic State seized large areas of Syria and Iraq in 2014, before suffering a battlefield defeat in Syria in 2019. Nevertheless, affiliated cells remain active inside the country, particularly in the Badia region, and the group periodically claims responsibility for attacks targeting Syrian security forces.
