One Syrian security member killed in Islamic State attack in Raqqa


June 15 (Reuters) - Syria's Interior ⁠Ministry said on Monday that one of its security ⁠personnel had been killed as its forces thwarted an ‌attack by two Islamic State militants on a command headquarters of the country's internal security forces in the city of Raqqa.

According to a ministry statement, ​two suicide attackers attempted to storm the ⁠facility. Security personnel engaged the ⁠pair, neutralising one of them, while the second detonated an ⁠explosive ‌vest after being surrounded.

Three security personnel were also wounded in the attack, the statement added.

Earlier, the Syrian state ⁠news agency had cited the Interior Ministry's spokesperson ​as saying that ‌preliminary information indicated at least two ministry personnel were ⁠killed in a ​suicide attack on a ministry camp in Raqqa.

In February, Islamic State declared a new phase of operations against the government of President ⁠Ahmed al-Sharaa and has since carried out ​a spate of attacks, including one that killed four Syrian security personnel near Raqqa.

Last year, Sharaa's government joined the U.S.-led coalition fighting ⁠Islamic State.

Sharaa himself fought Islamic State when he was leader of the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front during Syria's civil war. He severed ties with al Qaeda in 2016.

At the peak of ​its power during the Syrian civil war ⁠a decade ago, Islamic State controlled around a quarter or more ​of Syria, before being driven out ‌of the territory by a U.S.-led ​coalition and other foes.

(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din, Tala Ramadan, and Muhammad Al Gebaly; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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