DAMASCUS, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- A Syrian soldier was wounded on Monday in an armed attack in western Aleppo province, marking the second such incident in northwestern Syria within 24 hours, according to a human rights monitor and state media.
Unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on military personnel of the 80th Division near the city of Daret Azza, wounding one soldier, Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, adding that the assailants fled northward after the shooting.
A Syrian military source quoted by state-run SANA news agency confirmed the attack, saying it took place near the town of al-Ghazawiya.
The shooting came amid heightened security concerns in Syria, a country that entered a political transition in December 2024 following the collapse of the former government after years of conflict.
On Saturday, a gunman opened fire during a joint Syrian-U.S. patrol near the city of Palmyra in Syria's central Homs province, killing two Syrian security personnel, two U.S. soldiers, and one U.S. civilian interpreter. The incident prompted expanded security operations against suspected Islamic State cells in central Syria.
On Sunday evening, a deadly ambush took place in the city of Maarat al-Numan in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, where gunmen opened fire on a patrol of Syria's Internal Security Forces, killing four of them and wounding a fifth.
Analysts have noted that newly-established security units in Syria's former conflict zones remain vulnerable to hit-and-run attacks aimed at undermining stabilization efforts during the ongoing political transition. ■
