Children dead and church damaged in rocket attacks and bombings in Syria

Islamic State bomb damage to Armenian Evangelical Emmanuel Church in AleppoFacebook

A leading evangelical Christian church in Aleppo, Syria, has become the latest casualty of the terror advance of Islamic State.

The Armenian Evangelical Emmanuel Church in Aleppo suffered a heavy rocket attack yesterday, just hours after the end of the morning service. Fortunately the service was over so there were no deaths or injuries but the church will need extensive repairs before it can be used again. 

The Rev Haroutioun Selimian, head of the Armenian evangelical community of Syria, was among those who visited the church to assess the damage.

Armenian Evangelical Emmanuel Church suffers Islamic State bomb damageFacebook

The attack was reported by the Lebanese weekly Kantsasar.

In another attack, at least 40 people died including eight children in attacks by warplanes in the city of Raqqa, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported yesterday. It is unknown whether the planes were Russian or from the Syrian government's own forces. 

At least 12 Syrian schoolchildren were killed in another bomb attack in Aleppo, Syria earlier this month. These casualties were caused by bombs dropped by suspected Russian warplanes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reportedReuters