A Muslim mob has once again attacked the Christian majority town of Suqaylabiyah in Syria.
The incident took place on 3 October when two men from a nearby Muslim town allegedly attempted to harass and intimidate a shop owner. In response, the men were themselves assaulted and driven out of the town.
The men returned with a mob of their co-religionists and attacked the town at nights, damaging and looting a number of shops and houses. While the attack did involve firearms there are no reports of fatalities, although one Alwite woman received minor injuries.
According to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) the police managed to arrest a number of attackers. Two Christians were also arrested, but were reportedly released two days later.
The incident is almost an exact repeat of events earlier this year. Just before Easter two Muslim men were driven out of town after harassing a Christian woman. They also returned with a mob who smashed up houses, shops, cars and a shrine to Mary.
Although the security services were able to prevent the worst excesses, the event did lead to the cancellation of all Easter events by the major churches in the town.
Following the latest outrage, Father Fadi Sankari, the Orthodox priest of Suqaylabiyah said on Facebook, “Syrian Christians are not seeking chaos or revenge, but we don’t want our people to live with fear, or the repeat of the plight and destruction we witnessed before.”
In a separate incident, unknown gunmen killed seven Alawite oil and gas engineers who were in a minibus near the village of Fahel on 30 September. Three more Alawites were killed on 4 October during an attack on the village of Beit Awad.
Mervyn Thomas, President and Founder of CSW, condemned the latest outbreak of sectarian violence.
"We are also deeply concerned by the repeated killings of innocent Alawite civilians, and extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims of these deplorable attacks," he said.
“We urge the authorities to prioritise the protection of vulnerable communities, and reiterate our call for the international community to press the Syrian government to address extremism, hate speech and sectarian incitement as a matter of urgency.”
