Syria Security Forces Clash With Militants

Middle East / N. Africa - Syria
5 Dec 2005 - Yahoo News

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DAMASCUS, Syria - Syrian security forces clashed on Sunday with militants planning to launch terror attacks in the northern city of Aleppo, the state-run news agency reported. Five people were wounded, including two militants.

The SANA news agency also reported for the first time that a separate clash took place last week in Aleppo in which two militants were killed and a third was wounded.

An unknown quantity of arms was seized during that clash, SANA said.

The report did not say which group the militants belonged to nor how the two clashes — the first in the area in three months — were related. It was unclear precisely when the earlier clash took place.

Sunday's clash took place on the road to Aleppo's airport, about 221 miles northwest of the capital, Damascus, the SANA agency reported.

Terrorist attacks are rare in Syria, a tightly controlled country where the regime has used heavy-handed tactics to crack down against Islamic extremism as well as any form of dissent or instability.

There have been several clashes involving militants this year, and Syria has been under pressure to root out suspected militants who the United States claims use Syrian territory to plan attacks in Israel and Iraq.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press