<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/syria">Syria</a>'s Intelligence Directorate foiled an attack by the Islamic State group on the Sayeda Zeinab shrine in a Damascus suburb, a site of mass pilgrimage for Shi'ites, state news agency Sana reported on Saturday.</p><p>It said members of the cell were arrested before they could detonate an explosion inside the shrine.</p><p>The foiled attack will stoke fears that Islamic State is hoping to stage a comeback in Syria following the fall last month of President Bashar al-Assad.</p><p>Some Syrians and foreign powers have worried that the country's new leaders, who are from the Sunni Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that forced Assad out on Dec. 8, may impose strict Islamic governance on a country with numerous minority groups such as Druze, Kurds, Christians and Shi'ites.</p>.The tangled alliances and rivalries in Syria.<p>But the announcement by Syria's de facto government that it thwarted an attack targeting Shi'ite Muslims comes amid reassurances it will protect religious minorities.</p><p>"The General Intelligence Directorate is utilizing all its resources to confront all attempts to target the Syrian people in all their diversity," an intelligence official told Sana.</p><p>Islamic State, the Sunni Muslim militant group, has claimed previous attacks in and around the shrine, including last year and a bombing in 2017 that killed at least 40 people.</p><p>The granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammad, Sayeda Zeinab is venerated by Shi'ite Muslims and the mosque and shrine 10 kilometers south of Damascus attracts Shi'ite pilgrims from around the region.</p><p>Defence of the shrine had been a rallying call during Syria's 13-year civil war that drew Shi'ite militiamen from around the region to back former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.</p><p>But Assad's ouster last month significantly diminished the position of Shi'ite forces in Syria, including Iran and the Tehran-allied Lebanese group Hezbollah. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/syria">Syria</a>'s Intelligence Directorate foiled an attack by the Islamic State group on the Sayeda Zeinab shrine in a Damascus suburb, a site of mass pilgrimage for Shi'ites, state news agency Sana reported on Saturday.</p><p>It said members of the cell were arrested before they could detonate an explosion inside the shrine.</p><p>The foiled attack will stoke fears that Islamic State is hoping to stage a comeback in Syria following the fall last month of President Bashar al-Assad.</p><p>Some Syrians and foreign powers have worried that the country's new leaders, who are from the Sunni Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that forced Assad out on Dec. 8, may impose strict Islamic governance on a country with numerous minority groups such as Druze, Kurds, Christians and Shi'ites.</p>.The tangled alliances and rivalries in Syria.<p>But the announcement by Syria's de facto government that it thwarted an attack targeting Shi'ite Muslims comes amid reassurances it will protect religious minorities.</p><p>"The General Intelligence Directorate is utilizing all its resources to confront all attempts to target the Syrian people in all their diversity," an intelligence official told Sana.</p><p>Islamic State, the Sunni Muslim militant group, has claimed previous attacks in and around the shrine, including last year and a bombing in 2017 that killed at least 40 people.</p><p>The granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammad, Sayeda Zeinab is venerated by Shi'ite Muslims and the mosque and shrine 10 kilometers south of Damascus attracts Shi'ite pilgrims from around the region.</p><p>Defence of the shrine had been a rallying call during Syria's 13-year civil war that drew Shi'ite militiamen from around the region to back former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.</p><p>But Assad's ouster last month significantly diminished the position of Shi'ite forces in Syria, including Iran and the Tehran-allied Lebanese group Hezbollah. </p>