Syria's Interior Ministry says the sleeper cell behind a deadly church explosion near Damascus belonged to the Islamic State group.

Syria's top Christian leader said on Tuesday at the funeral for victims of a deadly church bombing that President Ahmed al-Sharaa's government bore responsibility for not protecting minorities and his condolences were insufficient.

The death toll from a suicide bomb attack on a church in Syria has risen to 25, state media said Monday. The attack Sunday on the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox church during a Divine Liturgy in Dweil'a, near Damascus,