New Year’s Eve church attack foiled in Syria

The foiled attack on a church in Aleppo on New Year’s Eve is the latest in several incidents that have brought heightened fear amongst Syria’s embattled Christian community. Please pray.

An attack on a church in Aleppo, Syria, was foiled on New Year’s Eve by security services. However, a soldier was killed in the incident, which will likely exacerbate the fears of many Syrian Christians going into the new year.

According to Open Doors sources, security forces noticed a man acting suspiciously around a church close to Farhat Square. As they sought to stop him, the man started shooting and detonated a bomb belt, killing himself and a soldier, and wounding two others.  

Heightened security 

The sources and several news agencies report that the man was part of so-called Islamic State (IS). It’s believed that IS, or groups linked to IS, wanted to carry out attacks on churches and public gatherings during celebrations for the new year. Although IS don’t rule parts of Syria as they did some ten years ago, groups with links to them are still present. 

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According to AFP, a press agency, the Interior Ministry said intelligence indicated that IS militants were preparing ‘suicide operations and attacks targeting New Year’s celebrations in a number of governorates, particularly the city of Aleppo, by targeting churches and civilian gathering spots.’  

It meant that heightened security measures were already in place around churches and other places of worship. At the time of the incident in Aleppo, no churches were gathered for a service or event. 

Several local church leaders attended the funeral of the soldier who died to show their respects. 

Threats and thwarted attacks 

The incident comes six months after 22 Christians were killed when a suicide bomber attacked Saint Elias church in Dweila, Damascus. The authorities later stated that the bomber belonged to IS or an affiliate of the group.  

Four weeks later, the authorities said they had prevented another church attack in the Tartous area by arresting three suspected terrorists. In November, threatening messages were left at two churches, one in Maared Saidnaya and the other in Damascus.  

This latest incident has underlined the fear felt by many Christians in Syria. Please keep them, and the country, in your prayers.