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AL QAEDA-LINKED ISLAMISTS CAPTURE SYRIAN CHRISTIAN VILLAGE
Christian Post
March 26 2014
By Morgan Lee , Christian Post Reporter
March 26, 2014|3:59 pm
Syrian Islamist forces have killed Hilal Assad, a relative of Syrian
President Bashar al Assad and key commander of the government military
forces who was defending the Armenian Christian city of Kassat last
weekend.
Led by Al-Nusra forces, fighters from Ahrar al Sham, the Islamic Front,
and others affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria took
over the 1,700 person town on Sunday, filled with many believed to
be backing President Bashar al Assad in hopes that he could better
ensure their safety than Islamist rebels, according to the AP. The
victorious rebels walked through the streets shouting and praising
Allah, the Christian Broadcasting Network has described.
Many of the Armenian-Syrians subsequently lashed out at Turkey
for allowing Islamists to cross and transport weapons across the
Syrian-Turkish border with few repercussions, and expressed anger
towards Turkey shooting down a Syrian war plane the same weekend.
"The Turks are [working against] us again," a Kassab resident tweeted.
"This is unacceptable considering history. Genocide repeat [in]
Kassab. What a bad day this has been. God bless everyone who is
defending the beautiful village of Kassab."
Armenian-Syrians are descendants of those who fled a genocide
that came at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915, killing 1.5
million of their people, and resettled in Syria. Triggered by the
increased violence in the region, Armenian-Syrians have seemingly
begun to conflate the actions of Turkey and Al-Qaeda-linked groups
like al-Nusra.
A Kassab student now living in the United Arab Emirates told the WSJ
that many of the town's residents are now "living in the Armenian
church of Latakia [city] where they receive food from the Armenians
living there."
"The place we used to spend our summer memories has turned into a war
zone....the Free Syrian Army is bombing the place while the Syrian Army
is doing all they can do to save Kassab...The only positive thing is
that the people in Kassab, including my friends and family, escaped
just in time. They will surely going to be homeless after the battle."
Christians, who make up around 8 percent of the Syrian population,
have suffered heavily, with Islamic rebel groups destroying churches
and sometimes entire towns, murdering dozens of followers of Christ.
Syrian president elections will be held in July.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/al-qaeda-linked-islamists-capture-syrian-christian-village-116824/
Christian Post
March 26 2014
By Morgan Lee , Christian Post Reporter
March 26, 2014|3:59 pm
Syrian Islamist forces have killed Hilal Assad, a relative of Syrian
President Bashar al Assad and key commander of the government military
forces who was defending the Armenian Christian city of Kassat last
weekend.
Led by Al-Nusra forces, fighters from Ahrar al Sham, the Islamic Front,
and others affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria took
over the 1,700 person town on Sunday, filled with many believed to
be backing President Bashar al Assad in hopes that he could better
ensure their safety than Islamist rebels, according to the AP. The
victorious rebels walked through the streets shouting and praising
Allah, the Christian Broadcasting Network has described.
Many of the Armenian-Syrians subsequently lashed out at Turkey
for allowing Islamists to cross and transport weapons across the
Syrian-Turkish border with few repercussions, and expressed anger
towards Turkey shooting down a Syrian war plane the same weekend.
"The Turks are [working against] us again," a Kassab resident tweeted.
"This is unacceptable considering history. Genocide repeat [in]
Kassab. What a bad day this has been. God bless everyone who is
defending the beautiful village of Kassab."
Armenian-Syrians are descendants of those who fled a genocide
that came at the hands of the Ottoman Empire in 1915, killing 1.5
million of their people, and resettled in Syria. Triggered by the
increased violence in the region, Armenian-Syrians have seemingly
begun to conflate the actions of Turkey and Al-Qaeda-linked groups
like al-Nusra.
A Kassab student now living in the United Arab Emirates told the WSJ
that many of the town's residents are now "living in the Armenian
church of Latakia [city] where they receive food from the Armenians
living there."
"The place we used to spend our summer memories has turned into a war
zone....the Free Syrian Army is bombing the place while the Syrian Army
is doing all they can do to save Kassab...The only positive thing is
that the people in Kassab, including my friends and family, escaped
just in time. They will surely going to be homeless after the battle."
Christians, who make up around 8 percent of the Syrian population,
have suffered heavily, with Islamic rebel groups destroying churches
and sometimes entire towns, murdering dozens of followers of Christ.
Syrian president elections will be held in July.
http://www.christianpost.com/news/al-qaeda-linked-islamists-capture-syrian-christian-village-116824/