Suicide bomber kills security officer at Aleppo checkpoint on New Year’s Eve

A suicide bomber detonated an explosive belt at a security checkpoint in Aleppo late on Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2025, killing one security officer and injuring two others, the Syrian Interior Ministry said. Security forces had tried to arrest the man after spotting the explosive belt, the ministry said.

The attacker has not been identified; the Interior Ministry spokesman, Nour al-Din al-Baba, told state-owned media that the bomber “most likely” had ideological or organizational links to the Islamic State and was apparently trying to infiltrate a Christian area in the city. Mr. al-Baba, without citing evidence, said preliminary information suggested the assailant may have been aiming for the nearby Church of the Forty Martyrs.

The incident occurred amid heightened security across Syria after a mosque bombing in Homs last week that killed at least eight people and injured about 20. Ansar al-Sunna claimed responsibility for the Homs blast; its spokesman, Abu Khaled al-Makhzoumi, said his group was not involved in the Aleppo attack but “supports whoever did it” and said he believed it was the Islamic State.

An earlier attack in Palmyra this month that killed three Americans was blamed on the Islamic State but was not claimed by the group and prompted a U.S. military response, the Times reported.

Key Topics

World, Aleppo, Islamic State, Homs Mosque Bombing, Ansar Al-sunna, Syrian Interior Ministry