One security force member killed, 2 wounded in Aleppo suicide attack, Syria says

Dec 31 (Reuters) – A suicide bomber suspected of having links to Islamic State tried to target a church in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on New Year’s Eve before detonating his explosive belt near a security patrol, killing one member and wounding two others, the interior ministry said on Wednesday.

Nour al-Din al-Baba, an interior ministry spokesperson, said investigations were underway to determine the attacker’s identity. The suspect was believed “to have an ideological or organisational background linked to Islamic State,” he told state-run television channel Al Ekhbariya.

The attack comes at a time when Syrian authorities have increased cooperation with U.S. forces in the fight against Islamic State.

Earlier in December, two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed in Syria by a suspected Islamic State attacker who targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces before being shot dead. The U.S. military responded by launching large-scale strikes against dozens of Islamic State targets in the country.

Wednesday’s attack was carried out in Aleppo’s Bab al-Faraj neighborhood, the interior ministry said. No group has claimed responsibility.

In images released by Syria’s state news agency SANA, a damaged stone passageway is seen after the suicide bombing, with debris and twisted metal scattered along the corridor and smoke stains marking the walls.

Syria’s government is led by former rebels who toppled leader Bashar al-Assad in late 2024 after a 13-year civil war, and includes members of Syria’s former Al Qaeda branch who broke with the group and clashed with Islamic State.

Syria has been cooperating with a U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, reaching an agreement in November when President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the White House.

(Reporting by Yomna Ehab and Muhammed Al Gebaly; Additional reporting by Hatem Maher; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Rod Nickel)