Tag: Al-Nusra Front

Historic Syrian monastery to reopen following restoration

August 13, 2018 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda, Maaloula, Minorities, Syria

Nuns are returning to the Orthodox Monastery of St. Tekla which was severely damaged in Syria's civil war. (Photo: Sergio & Gabriella via Flickr; CC 2.0)

A monastery in Syria, which was freed from occupation by rebel forces in 2014, is to re-open its doors to pilgrims and visitors following its restoration, reports Catholic news agency Fides. Some of the nuns have already started to return to the Orthodox Monastery of St. Tekla in the historic Christian . . . Read More

Imam calls for radical reforms to end extremism and safeguard Eastern Christians

February 21, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, Ansar al-Sharia, Ansar Dine, Boko Haram, France, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Paris, Yazidis

Sexual slavery practised by Islamic State (IS) jihadists is condoned in literature that is available at Islamic institutions and should be burnt, a leading imam in France has said. Hocine Drouiche, vice president of the Conference of Imams of France and an imam in Nimes, said that the ideology behind the . . . Read More

The Syrian refugee’s Christmas: free from danger but not from worry

December 29, 2017 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Catholics, Civil War, Refugees, Syria

How do Christians under pressure for their faith celebrate Christmas? In the sixth of our series we hear from a Syrian Catholic who has come to Britain as a refugee. “Back in Damascus we would have a big meal with our extended family on Christmas Eve – anything from three to . . . Read More

Kidnapped Syrian priest released unharmed

July 13, 2015 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda, Catholics, Kidnapping, Syria

Rev. Dhiya Aziz, a Catholic priest kidnapped July 4 in northwest Syria, was released unharmed July 9, to which he belongs. Aziz was abducted from the town of Yacoubieh, where he serves as a parish priest. Initial reports were that he was en route to a meeting with the Emir . . . Read More

Iraqi Franciscan priest abducted in northwest Syria

July 8, 2015 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Assyrians, Boulos Yazigi, Greek Orthodox, Hasakah, Idlib, Islamic State, Jacques Mourad, Kidnapping, Paolo Dall’Oglio, Syria, Yohanna Ibrahim

Father Dhiya Aziz was kidnapped by militants from Yacoubieh, Idlib Province, where he serves as parish priest on Sat 4th July. The militants were purportedly taking him for a brief meeting with the Emir who exercises authority in that area, which is under the control of the Al-Qaeda affiliate group, . . . Read More

Collateral damage? 63 churches hit in Syrian civil war

May 19, 2015 Al-Nusra Front, Bashar al-Assad, Islamic State, Syria

The Syrian Network for Human Rights says 63 churches have been damaged or destroyed so far in four years of civil war.AINA Sixty-three churches have been damaged or destroyed so far during four years of civil war in Syria, says the Syrian Network for Human Rights. In a comprehensive . . . Read More

All Knayeh hostages free

October 13, 2014 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Bashar al-Assad, Boulos Yazigi, Homs, Idlib, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Paolo Dall’Oglio, Raqqa, Syria, Yohanna Ibrahim

NOTE: This report, originally posted Oct. 8, is updated to include the release of all hostages The last of a group of 20 Syrian Christians kidnapped Oct. 5 have been released as their pastor awaits trial before an Islamic court. Rev. Hanna Jallouf, a Franciscan priest in the northeastern Syria town of Knayeh, was abducted with about 20 . . . Read More

Documents indicate Turkey connection to bishops’ kidnappers

May 19, 2014 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Boulos Yazigi, Greek Orthodox, Syria, Turkey, Yohanna Ibrahim

When police arrested Magomed Abdurrahmanov in Turkey about a year ago, word spread quickly that the suspected kidnapper of two prominent Syrian bishops had been caught. The Turkish government, however, said the man they had arrested, and his companions, were nothing to worry about. Officials said they were foreigners with . . . Read More

Kidnappers release Syrian nuns

March 10, 2014 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Kidnapping, Maaloula, Syria, Women

A group of nuns kidnapped in Maaloula, Syria, in December were released early Monday, tired but unharmed. “God did not leave us,” Mother Pelagia Sayyaf, superior of the Mar Takla monastery in Maaloula, told news reporters after the nuns had been released to Syrian authorities as part of a prisoner . . . Read More

12 nuns ‘abducted’ as rebels recapture Maaloula

December 3, 2013 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Maaloula, Syria

Mar Takla, Maaloula.Richard / Flickr / Creative Commons The Vatican has reported that 12 nuns were abducted as opposition rebels captured Syria’s historically Christian town of Maaloula yesterday (December 2). The majority of the town’s Christian population is thought to have fled during clashes between government forces and rebels in . . . Read More

Catching Our Eye