Syria says it foiled ISIS attempt to bomb Damascus shrine

Members of the cell were arrested before they could attack the Sayyed Zeinab shrine, state media reported

Fighters affiliated with Syria's new administration checking a driver's paperwork in western Damascus, in December. AFP

Syria's Intelligence Directorate foiled an attempt by ISIS to bomb the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine in the capital Damascus, state news agency Sana reported on Saturday.

It said members of an ISIS cell were arrested before they could carry out an attack on the shrine, Syria's most visited Shiite pilgrimage site.

The Interior Ministry posted pictures of four men it identified as members of the cell who were arrested in the countryside outside the capital.

It published images of equipment allegedly seized from the suspects, including smartphones, two rifles, what appeared to be three explosive devices and several hand grenades.

The photos showed the identity papers of two Lebanese and a Palestinian refugee living in Lebanon.

An intelligence service source told Sana that intelligence and security forces “succeeded in thwarting an attempt by ISIS to carry out a bombing inside the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine in the vicinity of the capital, Damascus”.

It is the first time the new authorities in Damascus have said they foiled an ISIS attack.

The shrine's gates used to be guarded by Iran-backed militias, but they fled shortly before rebels swept into the Syrian capital last month, toppling president Bashar Al Assad.

Iran-backed fighters had been key supporters of Mr Al Assad since the civil war broke out in 2011.

Shiite shrines have been frequent targets of attacks by ISIS, both in Syria and neighbouring Iraq. The Sunni extremist group claimed a bombing that killed at least six people near the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine in July 2023.

ISIS seized large swathes of Syrian and Iraqi territory in the early years of the civil war, declaring a cross-border “caliphate” in 2014.

US-backed Syrian Kurdish forces reclaimed all Syrian territory from ISIS in 2019, but the group has maintained a presence in Syria's vast desert.