Three more Christians shot dead in al-Sharaa’s ‘new' Syria
The killings took place yesterday in Anaz, a village in western Homs. Gunmen on motorbikes fired at least 30 bullets before fleeing. The motive behind the attack remains unknown. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, one of the victims had been involved in a legal case, but had been acquitted after the court found the charges against him to be baseless. The case had been brought by people from Al-Hosn, a neighbouring village where the perpetrators of the crime fled to.
Homs (AsiaNews) – Unidentified gunmen opened fire, killing three Christians in Homs governorate, central Syria. The attack occurred in Anaz, a village in Wādī an-Naṣārá (Valley of Christians), west of the city of Homs.
Murhaf al-Naasan, head of the transitional government's security forces in the area, reported that the killings occurred yesterday and that the victims were three local young men.
After striking, the attackers disappeared. Nothing is known about a possible motive for the attack.
According to local media reports, citing local witness accounts, gunmen on a motorcycle shot the victims, three members of the Christian community, in front of the office of the village chief (mukhtar).
The cold-blooded, execution-style assassination sparked widespread anger and increased tensions throughout Wādī an-Naṣārá, a predominantly Christian area known for its stability during Syria’s long civil war.
Reacting to the killings, local parties announced the withdrawal of all their candidates from the upcoming parliamentary elections set for this Sunday (5 October), calling on voters to boycott the vote, which was postponed several times.
Furthermore, schools also closed, and many residents did not go to work in protest.
A tense climate has long been felt in the area, as evinced by several recent incidents. One involved a Syriac Catholic clergyman, Father Michel Naaman, who was attacked and robbed at gunpoint outside his home. A gold cross was among the items taken.
Following the killing of three young Christians, “the concerned authorities immediately took measures to cordon off the area, pursue the assailants, and work to apprehend them and bring them to justice,” said security chief al-Naasan.
The latter urged residents to remain calm and avoid reacting to rumours or provocations, emphasising that an investigation was underway to determine the circumstances of the attack and identify those responsible.
One of the aims of the killings, he suggested, was to create instability, hinder the country's rebirth under the leadership of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the former militant group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as well as sow terror among residents and influence parliamentary elections.
At least 30 bullets were fired, said the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), regarding the killing of Christians in Anaz.
According to the SOHR, which has an extensive network of informants in the area and has been reporting Syria’s brutal civil war for years, the target of the attack was a small group of people gathered at the scene of the incident. Once their action carried out, the killers fled towards the village of Al-Hosn by the Al-Dabbaghah road.
One of the victims had appeared before a court two days earlier in a lawsuit filed against him by people from Al-Hosn, but the court released him after ruling that the charges were baseless.
In protest, local groups in Wādī an-Naṣārá, where the young men came from, called a general strike in solidarity with the victims' families and to condemn the ongoing wave of violence.
Since the start of the year, the SOHR has documented the deaths of 1,070 people, including 32 women and 21 children, in cold-blooded retaliations in several Syrian provinces.
The long trail of blood (especially affecting Alawites, Druze, as well as Christians) shows how unstable the "new" Syria is under al-Sharaa.
The HTS leader is a former al-Qaeda operative who once had a US$ 10 million bounty on his head. Now he is in power after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
He received full legitimacy in the past few months thanks to a meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with US President Donald Trump. And only a few days ago, he spoke at the UN.
What is more, Al-Sharaa has also been trying to work out a deal with Israel, despite struggling to keep his promise to hold parliamentary elections. Yet, the goal of a “safe, stable and unified” Syria is still far from being realised.
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04/12/2024 16:42
