St. Mary's Cathedral, the home of His Holiness Mar Addai II, Patriarch of The Ancient Church of the East, was bombed this Sunday morning.

Located in the Riyadh district of Baghdad the cathedral experienced dual bombings, a small IED followed, few minutes after, by a car detonation carrying a large amount of explosives.

The bombing was timed to take place as the worshipers were leaving the Sunday morning sermon. The first bomb was placed under or near Ezaria Warda's, the residing priest, vehicle immediately adjacent to the church entrance. This was the smaller of the two and caused some damage but is believed to have served in gathering a larger crowd including the police and more parishioners who quickly left the church to help the injured.

Minutes later, a second car exploded, causing substantial damage, including two confirmed deaths and at least 20 critically injured, mostly parishioners of the church. The injured included 4 police officers who arrived to the scene after the first bomb exploded. The Assyrian Patriarch was in his private wing when the attack took place and was unharmed.

Media Division of the Ancient Assyrian Church of the East