Syria’s first parliamentary election since the fall of Bashar al-Assad has led to an increase in violence in the city of Aleppo, leaving many locals in fear, says a missionary in the country.
When the Assad government fell late last year, there were concerns that the new government, which is dominated by an al-Qaeda offshoot, could spell significant trouble for Syria’s historic Christian community.
However, the new government said it wished to be inclusive and to protect the rights of Syria’s various minorities. Despite this, there have been troubling incidents including an anti-Alawite massacre and the suicide bombing of a Christian church.
It remains unclear if these, and similar actions, were backed by the government, or simply due to the fact that after more than a decade of civil war, the government cannot control the multitude of armed groups that control different sections of the country.
On 6 October Syria held its first parliamentary election since Assad’s fall. Father Hugo Alaniz, a missionary in Aleppo, told Aid to the Church in Need that violence broke out in the city and that the church was sheltering families trying to find safety.
He said, “There were intense clashes until 3am, explosions were heard everywhere. Now the situation is somewhat calmer, but people are very afraid. We have been receiving families in the basement of our church, where we usually do community activities.”
Father Alaniz said that two missiles had fallen near his church, with one just three hundred metres away.
“There was a lot of movement of people, internal displacements – the streets are now half empty. People are very afraid, we don’t know what is going to happen.”
It is believed the fighting was primarily between government forces and the Kurds, who wish to maintain their own autonomous territory. Two areas of Aleppo are currently administered by Kurdish forces.
