Syria Announces Arrest of ISIS Leader Accused of Blowing Up Mosque in Homs

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The Syrian Ministry of Interior announced on Tuesday the arrest of a leader in ISIS, accusing him of being responsible for the bombing of a mosque in a predominantly Alawite neighborhood in the city of Homs last December.

The Ministry of Interior stated in a statement that "the General Intelligence Directorate, in cooperation with the Internal Security Forces in the Rural Damascus Governorate, managed to arrest the operational arm of the ISIS terrorist organization in Homs, named Khaled Raed Biruni, nicknamed (Abu Hassan Doshka), during a security operation carried out in the town of Hajira in Rural Damascus."

The ministry reported that he is involved in "preparing and using explosive devices, carrying out sectarian attacks, in addition to his responsibility for the bombing that targeted the Ali ibn Abi Talib mosque in the Wadi al-Dahab neighborhood of Homs city" in December 2025, noting that investigations with him are ongoing.

Eight people were killed in the attack that took place in a neighborhood inhabited by a majority of Alawites, the sect to which former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad belongs.

The authorities announced in January the arrest of two individuals.

Although the Syrian authorities attributed the attack to ISIS, it was claimed by a small Sunni group called "Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah," which experts say acts as a front for the organization.

The attack sparked massive protests among the Alawite community in Homs and other areas, amid fears of renewed violence following previous waves of sectarian violence.

After seizing vast territories in Syria and Iraq in 2014, ISIS suffered a battlefield defeat in Syria in 2019, but affiliated cells remain active there, particularly in the desert regions.

The organization continues to claim responsibility for attacks that specifically target Syrian security forces from time to time.

Since coming to power, the Syrian authorities, who ousted Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 after nearly 13 years of civil war, have repeatedly announced the arrest of leaders or members of ISIS.