At least eight people ‍have been killed and more than 18 injured when an explosion ⁠struck a mosque ​in Syria’s Homs province, according to local officials.

The attack targeted the Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the Wadi al-Dahab neighbourhood of Homs during Friday prayers, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported.

Footage verified by Al Jazeera showed people fleeing the mosque in panic, placing some victims on stretchers and carrying others, wrapped in cloaks, to ambulances.

The blast appeared to have taken place in the corner of the mosque’s main prayer hall, leaving a small crater in the wall and scorching the surrounding area, with prayer carpets ripped and strewn with debris, and books and fragments scattered across the floor.

Local officials told the Reuters news agency the blast ‌may have been ‌caused by ⁠a suicide bomber or explosives placed there.

Syria’s Interior Ministry said security forces had imposed a ​cordon around ‌the area and were investigating.

Ayman Oghanna, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Aleppo, noted that Homs is home to a diverse population of Alawites, Christians and Sunni Muslims. He said the attack targeted an Alawite mosque, warning it could “inflame sectarian tensions” across the country.

He said no group had claimed responsibility for the strike, but noted a recent surge in ISIL (ISIS) activity in Syria. He added that government forces had carried out an operation near Aleppo, arresting three alleged ISIL members.

‘Attempt to sow chaos’

Syria’s government condemned the attack, saying it was the latest in a series of “desperate attempts to undermine security and stability and sow chaos among the Syrian people.”

“Syria reiterates its firm stance in combating terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” the Foreign Ministry added in a statement.

“Remnants of the former regime, ISIS (ISIL) militants and collaborators have converged on a single goal: obstructing the path of the new state by undermining stability, threatening civil peace, and eroding the shared coexistence and common destiny of Syrians throughout history,” the Syrian information minister said in a post on X.

Friday’s attack underscores the country’s fragile security situation, as the new authorities in Damascus struggle to assert control.

Last week, the United States bombed ISIL positions in Syria in retaliation for the killings of two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter. Damascus also joined a global anti-ISIL alliance in November, pledging to crush the remaining elements of the group.