Tag: Syria

Vatican: Peace talks must consider Christian needs

January 27, 2016 Global News -- No Particular Country Civil War, Islamic State, Syria, UN, Yazidis

The Geneva peace talks aimed at ending the Syrian civil war must “take into consideration” the needs of Christians, . The talks – due to start on 29 Jan. and last for six months – are aimed at finding a political solution to the on-going Syrian crisis. The UN said the first . . . Read More

16 more Assyrian hostages freed

January 14, 2016 Syria Assyrians, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Syria

Another 16 Assyrian Christian hostages of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, abducted 10 months ago, have been released, The were among 230 people abducted nearly a year ago when IS raided dozens of villages in northern Syria. Middle East Concern said “many months” of negotiations involving church representatives have resulted in . . . Read More

Islamic State’s ‘caliphate’ shrank 14% in 2015

January 6, 2016 Afghanistan, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds, Mosul, Ramadi, Raqqa, Syria, Turkey, USA

Islamic State’s self-proclaimed ‘caliphate’ – the area within Syria and Iraq that the group controls – shrunk by more than 12,000 square kilometres in 2015, says . The loss of 14 per cent of its territory reduces the caliphate to 78,000 square kilometres. Main losses are large swathes of Syria . . . Read More

Iraqi priest released

January 5, 2016 Syria Damascus, Idlib, Iraq, Kidnapping, Refugees, Syria, Turkey

An Iraqi priest has been released, two weeks after he was abducted on his way back to his parish in Yacoubieh in Syria’s Idlib province, reports the . Franciscan friar Dhiya Azziz, 41, apparently disappeared from Lattakia, Syria, on 23 December after visiting his family (refugees in Turkey). Released on . . . Read More

3 bombs kill 16 in Syrian border town

January 4, 2016 Syria Assyrians, Islamic State, Kurds, Qamishli, Syria

Bombers attacked three Christian-owned restaurants in the Syrian town of Qamishli on 30 Dec., killing at least 16 and injuring dozens, according to various independent news reports. The self-proclaimed “Islamic State” claimed responsibility, , citing the Amaq news service, which supports IS. The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, Moran Mor . . . Read More

Latest Assyrian hostages’ release by ISIS

January 4, 2016 Syria Assyrians, Children, Hasakah, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Syria, Women

ISIS has released 25 of the Assyrian hostages it captured during the militant group’s February 2015 in Hassaka Province, northern Syria. The hostages were released in good health on Christmas day. Two of the hostages were men and the rest women and children. All the children belonged to six of . . . Read More

5 years on: what has the Arab Spring meant for Christians?

December 17, 2015 Arab Spring, Copts, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Iraq, Islamic State, Libya, Middle East, Muammar Gaddafi, Muslim Brotherhood, North Africa, Ramadan, Syria, Tunisia

The Arab Spring, which began five years ago today (17th December) started with a wave of protests in Tunisia followed by other Arab countries. It was positively acclaimed as a social movement demanding an end to human rights violations, government corruption and poverty. Yet, so far, the outcome is largely contrary to . . . Read More

Syria: 11 churches attacked since February

December 15, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Churches, Civil War, Islamic State, Khabur, Syria

The Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) has released a list of the names of Syrian churches and monasteries destroyed by ISIS and other jihadi groups since February. “On February 23, ISIS attacked the 35 Assyrian villages on the Khabur River in [Al-Hasakah], Syria, capturing 253 Assyrians. In the subsequent months . . . Read More

25 Assyrian captives freed

December 10, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Hasakah, Islamic State, Khabur, Kidnapping, Syria

Twenty-five Syrian Christians abducted by the self-proclaimed Islamic State in February have been released, . The freed captives, all of them men and which included two boys ages 7 and 9, were among 253 Assyrians captured during an IS attack on dozens of villages near the Khabur river in the Hasaka province, . . . Read More

Push to include Christians in IS ‘genocide’ charge

December 8, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Asylum seekers, Genocide, Iraq, Islamic State, Jizya, Syria, USA, Yazidis

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called on its government to include Christians in the definition of those at risk of genocide from Islamic State’s campaign in Syria and Iraq. A calls for a broader inclusion of Christians, Shi’a, Turkmen and Shabak communities as well as Yazidis, . . . Read More

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