The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Thursday for the assassination of prominent Shia cleric Farhan Hassan al-Mansour in Syria , who was killed last week in a bomb attack targeting his vehicle in the Sayyida Zainab district south of Damascus .
In a statement published by its newspaper Al-Naba , the group said that "soldiers of the Caliphate in Wilayat al-Sham - Damascus" carried out a "special bombing operation" targeting what it called "one of the apostate Rafidite imams" near the Sayyida Zainab shrine in the Damascus countryside.
The statement claimed the attack was conducted using a sticky bomb planted inside al-Mansour’s vehicle after he left what the group described as "their polytheistic shrine" in the Sayyida Zainab area.
It described the cleric as "one of the prominent preachers and imams of disbelief" in the district, which it said was under strict protection and surveillance by Syrian government forces.
Al-Mansour was known as the imam and preacher of the Sayyida Zainab shrine and was considered one of the leading Shia clerics in Sayyida Zeinab, a major centre of Shia religious influence in Syria with a heavy security presence due to the sectarian tensions which arose during the Syrian conflict.
An explosive device detonated in al-Mansour’s vehicle on Friday afternoon, killing him instantly. Initial reports had differed over whether the blast was the result of a planned assassination or an accidental explosion.
Following the incident, Syria’s Interior Ministry said it was monitoring "with great concern what the country has witnessed in recent days of systematic attempts aimed at destabilising security and stability, seeking to spread chaos and undermine civil peace".
The ministry said the killing of the Sayyida Zainab shrine preacher came "within the context of a dangerous escalation targeting religious and social figures in order to stir sectarian strife".
It added that "this crime will not pass without accountability", though it did not at the time provide further details regarding those responsible or the findings of preliminary investigations.
Last January, the Syrian Interior Ministry announced that it had foiled an Islamic State attempt to carry out a bombing inside the Sayyida Zainab shrine itself.
At the time, the ministry said the General Intelligence Service, working alongside the Rural Damascus Security Directorate, had arrested those involved and thwarted the plot before it could be carried out.
The latest attack is likely to intensify concerns over Islamic State sleeper cell activity in Syria despite years of military and security operations targeting the group. It also raises questions over how the organisation was able to penetrate one of the most fortified and closely monitored districts in the Damascus area.
In recent months, sporadic Islamic State attacks have continued to be reported across several Syrian regions, targeting security personnel, soldiers and civilians.