Despite promises by the interim Syrian government to respect and protect minorities, sectarian violence has increased in recent days, with Christians and Druze particularly at risk.
Local sources have told the Catholic charity, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), that 38 Christian homes in the village of Al-Soura Al-Kabira have been destroyed. St Michael’s Melkite Greek-Catholic Church has been badly damaged in an attack. It is unknown who carried out the attacks.
Meanwhile militias from the Shia Muslim offshoot Druze community have been engaged in sectarian battles with the Bedouin, reportedly claiming over 350 lives.
Neighbouring Israel has conducted airstrikes in Syria in support of the Druze, many of whom live in Israeli territory and serve in the Israeli Defence Force.
Speaking of the anti-Christian attack, one local told ACN, “This community has lost everything. They had very little to begin with – they were already among the poorest in the region – and now they have nothing left.”
The interim Syrian government is headed by HTS, a militant group that began life as an offshoot of al-Qaeda. Despite such origins, the new government has given assurances to both locals and the international community that it is committed to respecting the rights of minorities.
However, it appears that the multitude of armed groups in the country, many of which are not directly controlled by HTS, make such an aspiration challenging to say the least, and their assurances have done little to ease the fears of Christians and other minorities in light of concerning developments.
In March hundreds of Alawites, the minority group from which deposed former President Bashar al-Assad came, were massacred.
Less than a month ago, Mar Elias Orthodox Church in Damascus became the victim of a suicide bombing that killed more than 30 people and injured 54. The extremist jihadist group Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah claimed responsibility for the attack.
It has given rise to concerns that HTS is unable to control what goes on in every part of a country that has been wracked by over a decade of internal conflict between a host of different groups and identities.
The suicide bombing has caused Syria's Christians to lose hope.
"This incident will make Christians and church leaders live on their tiptoes waiting for the next attack," one local Christian told Open Doors.
"We pray that the international community and the blood of these martyrs will advocate for the rest of the Christians in Syria.”
A young Christian woman from Damascus told Open Doors, “I lost all hope that there is any life left here for us.”
