Several people were seriously injured—at least one fatally—in a missile attack on a Greek Orthodox church in Syria. The attack was timed for the formal opening of the new church, and was attributed by the Syrian government to terrorists.

The church in Al-Suqaylabiyah was built by the Syrian government, with Russian funding. Named the Hagia Sophia, it was modeled after the famous church in Istanbul with that name. The church in Syria was built after Turkey’s government announced that the original Hagia Sophia would be rededicated as a mosque.