Report: Syrian Christians Living in ‘Trauma’ from Jihadist Incursions

ROME — Syrian Christians are living in “trauma” following the recent jihadist takeover of Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, reports a major Christian persecution watchdog group.

In Defense of Christians (IDC), a leading U.S.-based advocacy group for Christians in the Middle East, noted this week that the jihadist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) had seized full control of Aleppo, forcing a total withdrawal of Syrian government forces from the city and its environs.

“HTS is a Turkey-backed rebel group which has operated under several names during the Syrian conflict, including ‘Jabhat al-Nusra,’” IDC wrote, adding that the group is an ideological offshoot of al-Qaeda, and “includes Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi (of ISIS notoriety) among its founders.” HTS has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States.

This fall of Aleppo into jihadist control on November 29 “is the most significant threat to stability in Syria” since the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, IDC warned, and HTS fighters are now battling for control of Hama in their southward advance.

In the wake of the takeover, Christians in Aleppo have become “the target of widespread crime and vandalism” and basic necessities such as food and medical care have become scarce, IDC added.

The HTS rebels have imposed a curfew on churches, and last Sunday, during a missile strike on Aleppo, a bomb fell on the Franciscan complex of the Terra Santa College

While the attack only damaged the building, and resulted in no casualties, the minority Christian community lives in increasing fear.

Franciscan Father Francesco Patton, the Custos of the Holy Land, reported “growing tension and fear of the civil population of Aleppo for the unforeseeable developments of the confrontation underway.”

Moreover, due to the violence, thousands of Christians have already fled Aleppo and are internally displaced, while those Christians who have remained in the ancient city live in “significant fear,” IDC reported.

“Syria is home to the world’s most ancient Christian communities, who still live in trauma after over a decade of frequent occupations, and persistent persecution by Islamist terror groups,” said IDC executive director Richard Ghazal.

Ghazal said that humanitarian response must be handled with the “utmost urgency and human compassion” as these Christian communities are on “the brink of eradication.”

In the face of a human tragedy of this magnitude, “humanitarian support should not be conditioned on a political litmus test,” Ghazal said. Syria is currently under the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad, who enjoys patronage from Russia.

Thomas D. Williams is Breitbart News Rome Bureau Chief and the author of The Coming Christian Persecution: Why Things Are Getting Worse and How to Prepare for What Is to Come.