An explosion has killed at least eight people and injured 18 others during Friday prayers inside a mosque in the Syrian city of Homs, the health ministry has said.

Pictures from Syria’s state-run news agency, Sana, show the inside of the Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib Mosque with black, scorched walls, smashed windows and blood on the carpet.

Officials believe that an explosive was detonated inside the building, Sana reports, citing a security source. While authorities are still searching for the perpetrators, jihadist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah has claimed responsibility.

The mosque Is in the Wadi al-Dhahab neighbourhood, where most people are part of the Alawite ethnoreligious group.

Syria’s Foreign Ministry condemned the “terrorist crime”, writing in a statement on X that the “cowardly act is a blatant assault on human and moral values” designed to “undermine the security and stability” of the country.

Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah, a Sunni extremist group, has said it carried out the attack in collaboration with another unidentified group, using explosives planted at the site.

The group's vague origins and opaque affiliations, which came to prominence in June when it claimed responsibility for a deadly church bombing in Damascus, have raised questions about its true links and authenticity.

Some observers have speculated that it could be a front for Islamic State group (IS) given the similarity in their messaging and type of targets.

The latest claim follows a months-long lull in Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah’s claimed attacks, which have largely taken the form of alleged targeted killings of minorities and what the group describes as “remnants” of the former Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad.

The blast comes a year after Syrian rebel forces overthrew Assad, who is Alawite. The sect is an offshoot of Shia Islam whose members make up one of the country’s biggest religious minorities.

Since then, Syria has seen several waves of sectarian violence, with Alawites fearing reprisals and being subject to crackdowns. Assad fled to Russia, an ally of his regime, where he and his family have been given asylum.

In March, security forces were accused of killing dozens of Alawites in the coastal province of Latakia, war monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported. (BBC)

•The inside of the mosque, with debris scattered everywhere and black up the walls. Two men are taking photos from the outside through a door. Omar HAJ KADOUR / AFP via Getty Images

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