In the midst of the civil war, churches and Christian-owned businesses have been targets of bombings by the Islamic State and other extremist groups, and there have been many reports of Christians being abducted, harmed and killed. Even so, many of Syria’s remaining Christians are committed to staying and rebuilding their country. Others are now returning home following IS’s military defeat.
Assyrian Christian girl released in Syria
An Assyrian Christian girl taken hostage 13 months ago by Islamic State (IS) militants in northeast Syria‘s Hasakah province has been set free after “intense negotiations” for her release. Miriam David Talya, who had been captured with more than 250 other Khabur villagers in Feb. 2015, arrived in Tel Tamar […]
Enterprising Christians see hope, despite Syria’s five years of war
Of an estimated population of 17 million in Syria, 11 million have either left the country or been internally displaced by the civil war which ‘officially’ enters its 5th year today, 15th March. This was when protests began in Deraa, which quickly led to the spiral down into civil war. […]
Syrian Christians favour Assad to bring peace
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 […]
Islamic State releases 43 Assyrian hostages
The so-called Islamic State has released 43 Assyrian Christians – the remaining hostages of the . The group is on its way to Tel Tamr, a town close to the villages they were abducted from, according to Younan Talia of the Assyrian Democratic Organization. Talia said the release came after […]
Living as a Christian in the Islamic State
When John, a Syrian Christian, chose to stay in Raqqa after the Islamic State took control of the city in 2014, he had no idea how he would survive. Thousands abandoned the city, believing it better to save their lives than live at the centre of the Islamists’ new “caliphate”. […]
Islamic State releases more Christian hostages
Islamic State released 22 Assyrian hostages – mainly women and children – in Syria over the weekend. Sixteen of them were from the in Hasakah province in February 2015. The other six hostages released were taken in August from Qaryatain. Islamic State is still holding 73 of the 253 original hostages. There have […]
16 more Assyrian hostages freed
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 […]
Iraqi priest released
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 […]
3 bombs kill 16 in Syrian border town
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 […]
Latest Assyrian hostages’ release by ISIS
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 […]