Tag: Civil War

Syrian Christians favour Assad to bring peace

February 23, 2016 Syria Bashar al-Assad, Civil War, Islamic State, Syria

Supporting President Assad may be the only hope of Christians surviving during and after Syria’s civil war, writes John Pontifex for . On a recent trip to Syria for Aid to the Church in Need, he found Christians considered it better to support the current leadership than face the threat . . . Read More

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

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

4 million have fled Syria – sixth of population

July 10, 2015 Syria Civil War, IDPs, Refugees, Syria, UN

More than four million Syrians have fled their country to escape the current conflict announced the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) today. The head of the UN’s refugee agency, Antonio Guterres, called it the “worst humanitarian crisis of our generation”. Syria’s civil war, which is now in its . . . Read More

UN Security Council is ‘failing Syria’

March 12, 2015 Syria Civil War, Syria, UK, UN, USA

Leading humanitarian groups, including Oxfam and Save the Children, in a report to mark four years of the Syrian war, accuse UN Security Council members of lacking the will to stop the fighting. The Failing Syria report says the 15-member Security Council, which includes the US and UK, has not . . . Read More

Four years since teenage graffiti sparks Syrian civil war

March 12, 2015 Syria Aleppo, Arab Spring, Bashar al-Assad, Civil War, Daraa, Islamic State, Khabur, Syria

Four years ago this week a group of young teenagers with a can full of paint sprayed messages on a wall in the Syrian city of Daraa. They couldn’t have known it but, over the next nine days, their graffiti would escalate into the Syrian civil war, which reaches its . . . Read More

Dispatch from Aleppo

December 3, 2014 Syria Aleppo, Bashar al-Assad, Civil War

Free Syrian Army fight government forces, north of Aleppo 21 Aug 2012Photo: CC/ Christiaan Triebert From today World Watch Monitor will publish an occasional diary from a Christian pastor living in Aleppo, the Syrian city that has become a key battleground between rebels and President Assad’s government forces. After . . . Read More

Homs priest killed by assassins

April 7, 2014 Syria Arab Spring, Civil War, Homs, Syria

Frans van der Lugt, a Jesuit priest who refused to leave the embattled city of Homs, Syria, in solidarity with the few Christians still living there, was killed by assassins Monday in his garden. Known among the people as Abouna Francis, the native Dutchman had worked in Syria for more . . . Read More

What caused Syria’s civil war?

August 16, 2013 Syria Bashar al-Assad, Civil War, Hezbollah, Sunni

Throughout its history, ancient and modern, Syria has played host to ethnic and religious minorities living together very much in harmony. Syria, in the original sense of what is now known as “Greater Syria”, encompassed much of the Levant – today’s states of Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, plus a . . . Read More

Syrian priest calls for end of ‘folly’

June 26, 2013 Syria Al-Nusra Front, Civil War, Syria

A Syrian priest was killed on Sunday (June 23) in an attack on a convent by militants linked to the jihadi group, Jabhat al-Nusra, according to Fides. Another priest, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, told the Catholic Herald that Ghassanieh, the village where Francois Murad died, “like other Christian villages, has been almost . . . Read More

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