Al-Qaeda-linked rebels attack Christian village in Syria<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia Today<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5 SEPTEMBER, 2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An Al-Qaeda-linked group attacked a predominantly Christian village sympathetic to the Assad regime in western Syria on Wednesday while rebel and government forces clashed in Damascus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The attack began at dawn when a Jabhat al-Nusra fighter blew himself up at a government checkpoint near the entrance to the village of Maaloula, according to a Syrian official and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which collects information from anti-regime activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Maaloula \u2013 a mountain village of 2,000 residents 60km northeast of Damascus – is home to some of the most ancient Orthodox Christian relics and is a major pilgrimage destination. It\u2019s also one of the very few places in the world where people still speak Aramaic, a biblical-era language Jesus is believed to have spoken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the suicide bombing, al-Nusra rebels and government forces traded fire, with the rebels eventually seizing the checkpoint and taking over a hotel on a mountain overlooking the village, according the Observatory and a local nun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rebels also disabled two tanks and an armored personnel carrier and killed eight regime soldiers during the fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the mountaintop hotel, rebels fired shells into the village, forcing around 80 people to take refuge in a convent, the nun said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Syrian government official has confirmed the attack, AP reported<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Militants have reportedly broken into the village and shelled Christian churches with mortars, Surya al-Ain website reported. A fire broke out in the temple of the Holy Prophet Elijah, the building suffered damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rebel mortar fire hit a sports hall in Damascus, killing Mohammed Ali Neimeh, a member of the national taekwondo team, state news agency SANA reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Reinforcements are being transferred to the region from the capital, according to local TV channel Al-Mayadin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Government forces and rebels also fought in Daraya, located just outside Damascus, according to amateur video obtained by AP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ongoing fighting between various rebel forces – often with conflicting aims and loyalties – and Assad\u2019s military unfolded Wednesday as the US came closer to authorizing military attacks on Syrian government entities in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons weeks ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A US Senate panel confirmed a resolution for force on Wednesday, which will see a vote from the full Senate soon. Meanwhile, the US House questioned key administration officials about the scope and strategy of any assault on Syrian forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A team of UN investigators is still analyzing samples taken near Damascus to confirm whether Western allegations that the Syrian government launched the attack are true.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regardless, US President Barack Obama said Wednesday that he will not hesitate to use force in Syria even if Congress fails to lend its support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs commander in chief I always preserve the right and the responsibility to act on behalf of America’s national security. I don’t believe that I was required to take this to Congress. But I did not take this to Congress because I think it’s an empty exercise,” Obama said during a news conference in Stockholm on Wednesday, after a meeting with the Swedish prime minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a parliament debate, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault called for intervention in Syria, saying that Assad had used chemical weapons and will do so again if not deterred by a Western-led force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Condemning the attacks, ODFS Director, Ribal Al-Assad said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe historic town of Maaloula is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in Syria and I am appalled to hear that it has been attacked by rebel forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I have said before, it is quite clear that these rebel extremists are systematically targeting minority groups in a bit to eradicate them from the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The international community must recognise the seriousness of the situation, these islamists will not stop until they have achieved their goal, a caliphate state – we must not allow them to destroy the beautiful tapestry of Syrian, extremists must be held to account for these heinous crimes.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Al-Qaeda-linked rebels attack Christian village in Syria Russia Today 5 SEPTEMBER, 2013 An Al-Qaeda-linked group attacked a predominantly Christian village sympathetic to the Assad regime in western Syria on Wednesday while rebel and government forces clashed in Damascus. The attack began at dawn when a Jabhat al-Nusra fighter blew himself up at a government checkpoint […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2596,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6586"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6593,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6586\/revisions\/6593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/odf-syria.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}