Syria: IS Abducts Dozens of Christians
Islamic State jihadists have captured several Christian families after seizing Qaryatain, a town in the Syrian province of Homs.
Syria
U.K. Denies Refuge to Christians Fleeing Islamic State
With the rise of the Islamic State, we are seeing what may become a “genocide” of Christians in the Middle East, yet the U.K. has closed its doors to them, according to Barnabas Fund International Director Patrick Sookhdeo.
Mosul Cathedral to become ‘Mosque of the Mujahedeen’
The Islamic State has announced that the Syriac Orthodox Cathedral Church of St. Ephrem in Mosul will become known as the “Mosque of the Mujahedeen” in honor of the “holy warriors” of Islam who wage jihad in Allah’s name.
Syria: Monk Abducted from Monastery
A Syrian Catholic monk of the Mar Elian Monastery has been abducted by armed jihadists.
Syrian Christians killed, wounded in Aleppo
Armenians in Aleppo — the largest city in Syria — have been under siege since Holy Week from rocket attacks that have killed 30 and injured almost 60.
ISIS Demands $30 Million to Free Christian Hostages
Islamic State militants are demanding up to $30 million in ransom to release the hundreds of Christian hostages in Syria, according to an officer within the Assyrian leadership.
Syrian Christian sends Desperate Letter from Aleppo
A Christian doctor in Aleppo has recently updated Barnabas Fund about the desperate conditions in Syria after almost four years of continuous civil war.
Christian families are stranded in ISIS-controlled Raqqa
The Islamic State is forcing the remaining Christian families in Raqqa to pay the jizya or protection tax, according to Christian Today.
Islamic State Destroys Armenian Church
Jihadists from the Islamic State have destroyed a Syrian church that memorialized the Armenian Genocide in which more than a million Armenian and Assyrian Christians died at the hands of Turkish Muslims.
Syria: Maaloula’s Christian Sites Sacked By Rebels
An official report by the Directorate General of Antiquities has documented the destruction inflicted on Maaloula and its historical sites by Islamist rebel fighters after pro-Assad forces had regained the Syrian city, according to International Christian Concern.
Syrian Islamists Kill 80 Christians, Displace Thousands More
Eighty Christians were killed and thousands more displaced after Islamic militants attacked the strategic Syrian town of Kessab near the Turkish border on March 21, according to Barnabas Aid.
Christians Warned Not to Support Assad
Using the Twitter social networking site, Lebanon’s March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator warned Christians that backing President Bashar al-Assad would backfire on their own communities, according to NOW news.
Twenty-two Christians killed in Nigeria
International Christian Concern has reported that 22 Christians were killed in an assault on a worship service in northeastern Nigeria Sunday morning.
Call to Protect Syria’s Christians
The World Evangelical Alliance has called for the protection of Syria’s Christian population ahead of the upcoming peace conference in Geneva, according to International Christian Concern.
Syria: Christian village now a ‘ghost town’
Homes have been vandalized and plundered while the bodies of Christians lie along the roads of a small Christian village north of Damascus after it was invaded by Islamist insurgents last Thursday.
Jihadist rebels, Assad loyalists fight for control of Syrian countryside
In the battle for Syria between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and rebel jihadist factions, violent contests for the control of small Christian villages are often under-reported by the mainstream media.
More Christian Clergy Missing in Syria
Last week’s disappearance of an Italian Jesuit priest in Syria suggested foul play following the kidnappings of two other clergy in April, according to Morning Star News.
Syrian Rebels to Assyrian Christian refugees: ‘If you want to come back, convert to Islam, or you will be killed’
According to the Assyrian International News Agency, Assyrian Christians who have fled from an area of Syria called al-Thawrah (also known as al-Tabqah), have been told by rebels, “If you want to come back, convert to Islam, or you will be killed.”
Free Syrian Army Massacre Christian Village
Another massacre reportedly carried out by Free Syrian Army militants has targeted the residents of al-Duwayr/Douar, a Christian village close to the city of Homs and near Syria’s border with Lebanon, according to Syria Report.
Syria Militants Behead Catholic Priest And Two Others
A Catholic priest has been publicly beheaded by suspected Islamic militants in northern Syria after accusations of collaborating with President Bashar Assad’s government, Worthy News established Tuesday, July 2.