Tag: Syria

‘ISIS on a mission to exterminate Christians’

August 26, 2016 Al-Qaeda, Hizb ut-Tahrir, Idlib, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, London, Mosul, Salafism, Syria

Shiraz Maher, senior research fellow at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation at King’s College London, in a 2015 photo.Morten Brakestad / Stortinget / Flickr CC The so-called Islamic State will not stop until it has “exterminated” all other religious groups, according to a former Islamic extremist . . . Read More

Aleppo church helped ‘almost 2,000 Muslim refugees’

August 19, 2016 Syria Aleppo, Armenians, Greek Orthodox, Hasakah, Islamic State, Kurds, Refugees, Syria

A church in the beleaguered Syrian city of Aleppo has opened its doors to Muslims as well as Christians fleeing the war. Nearly 2,000 Muslims have benefited from the help offered by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, including by the Church of Elias the Prophet, reported Ruptly.tv, an affiliate of Russia . . . Read More

Syrian militants held for Maaloula nuns’ kidnap

August 11, 2016 Syria Bashar al-Assad, Maaloula, Syria

Two Syrians have been charged in Lebanon for taking part in the kidnapping three years ago of nuns from the Syrian historic town of Maaloula, close to the Lebanese border, 60km north-east of Damascus. Amer and Thaer Miskaf were described as militants of the Nusra Front, an Islamic jihadist group . . . Read More

Video: Aleppo youth fill church on World Youth Day

August 2, 2016 Syria Aleppo, Catholics, Syria

Young people in the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo filled a church for their own ‘mini Youth Day’ as the Pope celebrated the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day during his visit to Poland last week. The eastern part of the city, which has been held by opposition forces, is currently . . . Read More

Christian refugees in Europe still suffering

July 25, 2016 Afghanistan, Europe, France, Germany, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Migrants, Refugees, Syria

, one of the US’s major producers and distributors of public radio programming, has interviewed Christians in German refugee centres – fleeing extremist violence in Iraq and Syria – who have reported intimidation from other refugees. Their programme built on research by Christian charity earlier this year. It found that . . . Read More

Attack badly damages church in northeast Syria

July 22, 2016 Syria Assyrians, Churches, Islamic State, Qamishli, Syria

An Assyrian Orthodox church was attacked Monday in the northeastern Syrian city of Qamishli, resulting in extensive damage to its interior, local sources said. “Anonymous gunmen stormed the St. Charnel Church for Assyrian Orthodox in the Watwatiyah district of Qamishli in the midnight on Monday, and destroyed its contents,” a . . . Read More

US ‘indifferent’ to oppressed Christians

July 12, 2016 Genocide, Iraq, Islamic State, Syria, USA, Yazidis

The United States government is afraid to work directly with persecuted Christians in places like Iraq and Syria lest it be deemed a “crusader army”, according to a leading American religious rights advocate. Up until the day before the U.S. State Department declared the atrocities of the so-called Islamic State . . . Read More

Pew reports decline in religious restrictions

June 28, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Iraq, North Korea, Religious freedom, Sub-Saharan Africa, Syria, Terrorism

In its latest report, Pew Research Center says there was an overall decline in religious restrictions and hostilities between 2013 and 2014, despite a continued rise in religion-related terrorism. The US-based “fact tank” ranked 198 countries and territories in the seventh report of its kind, titled “Trends in Global Restrictions . . . Read More

5 killed in suicide attacks in Lebanese village

June 27, 2016 Lebanon Hezbollah, Islamic State, Lebanon, Migrants, Refugees, Sunni, Syria

At least five people were killed and 15 wounded in suicide bomb attacks early on Monday in the predominantly Christian village of Qaa, northern Lebanon – on a road linking its Bekaa valley to Syria. Four bombers blew themselves up on Qaa’s streets starting at 1am GMT. No group has . . . Read More

Attempt on Syriac Patriarch commemorating genocide

June 23, 2016 Syria Armenians, Assyrians, Genocide, Kurds, Qamishli, Syria

As Christians were celebrating Pentecost in Qamishli, Syria, a suicide bomber disguised as a priest struck, killing three Assyrians and wounding five others. The Sunday attack on 19 June was apparently targeting Syriac Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II, and was reminiscent of another nearly a century ago which killed the . . . Read More

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