ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office this week condemned a suicide attack targeting a church in Syria that killed 25 people, reaffirming its support for efforts aimed at achieving lasting peace in the country. 

Syrian state media reported that a suicide bomber carried out an attack inside the packed Mar Elias Church in Dweil’a on the outskirts of Damascus on Sunday. While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the Syrian Interior Ministry said a fighter from the Daesh group entered the church and fired at the people there before detonating himself with an explosives vest.

“Pakistan strongly condemns the heinous suicide bombing at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Damascus, Syria, on 22 June 2025, which resulted in the loss of precious lives and left many injured,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a press release on Monday. 

Islamabad expressed its heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and prayed for the speedy recovery of the injured.

“Pakistan stands in full solidarity with the brotherly people of Syria in this hour of grief, and reaffirms its strong support for efforts aimed at achieving lasting peace and stability in the country,” the foreign ministry added. 

The church suicide blast was the first of its kind in Syria in years, and came as an interim government in Syria led by President Ahmed Al-Sharaa tries to win the support of minorities.

Syria has made major inroads into the international fold since President Bashar Assad was removed in December 2024 after over a decade of civil war in the restive country. His ouster led to the United States and the European Union lifting its sanctions on the Arab country. 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has expressed concern over Iran’s missile attack on a United States (US) military base in Qatar and called for efforts to restore peace in the region, Sharif’s office said on Monday, following his telephonic talk with Qatari and Saudi envoys to Islamabad.

Iran launched missile attacks Monday on US military bases in Qatar and Iraq in retaliation for the American bombing of its nuclear sites, state media said, amid escalating tensions in the volatile region.

Qatar said it had “successfully intercepted” missiles targeting the US base, and added it reserved the right to respond in accordance with international law. The US confirmed its air base was targeted by missile attack from Iran and said no casualties were reported.

Shortly after the attack, Sharif spoke with Qatar’s Ambassador to Islamabad Ali Mubarak Ali Essa Al-Khater and expressed solidarity with the Qatari government and people. He then spoke with Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador Nawaf bin Said-Al Malki.

“The Prime Minister urged that all efforts must be made to de-escalate tensions and restore peace in the region,” Sharif’s office said, following his conversation with the Saudi envoy.

“He said Pakistan would continue to work closely with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to intensify peace efforts.”

The Qatari and Saudi envoys thanked the prime minister for expressing solidarity and immediately reaching out to them after the development that could imperil peace and stability in the region, according to Sharif’s office.

Qatar earlier said it condemned the Iranian missile attack, calling it a “flagrant violation” of its sovereignty.

“We express the State of Qatar’s strong condemnation of the attack on Al-Udeid Air Base by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, and consider it a flagrant violation of the State of Qatar’s sovereignty and airspace, as well as of international law,” foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said in a statement.

The Al-Udeid air base is home to the US Combined Air Operations Center (CAOC), which provides command and control of air power across the region as well as the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, the largest expeditionary wing in the world.

Iran’s retaliation came a day after the US launched a surprise attack Sunday morning on three of Iran’s nuclear sites, joining Israel in the biggest Western military action against the Islamic Republic since its 1979 revolution.

Just before the explosions, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian wrote on the social platform X: “We neither initiated the war nor seeking it. But we will not leave invasion to the great Iran without answer.”