
Islamist rebel forces in Syria have killed 45 Christians in the west-central town of Sadad, the largest massacre of Christians yet in the Syrian conflict.
In the wake of the killing, an Orthodox archbishop has mourned, “We have shouted aid to the world but no one has listened to us. Where is the Christian conscience? Where is the human consciousness? Where are my brothers?”
According to Agenzia Fides, Syrian Orthodox Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh reported that Islamist rebels entered the town on October 21st; a week later, it was re-captured by the Syrian army.
“What happened in Sadad is the most serious and largest massacre of Christians in Syria and the second in the Middle East, after the one in the Church of Our Lady of Salvation in Iraq in 2010,” said the prelate:
Forty-five innocent civilians were martyred for no reason, and among them several women and children, many thrown into mass graves. Other civilians were threatened and terrorized. Thirty were wounded and 10 are still missing. For one week, 1,500 families were held as hostages and human shields. Among them children, the elderly, the young, men and women. Some of them fled on foot traveling eight km from Sadad to Al-Hafer to find refuge. About 2,500 families fled from Sadad, taking only their clothes, due to the eruption of armed groups and today they are refugees scattered between Damascus, Homs, Fayrouza, Zaydal, Maskane, and Al-Fhayle.
The archbishop said that Sadad, a small town of 15,000 people, now has no electricity, water, or telephone service.
“All the houses of Sadad were robbed and property looted,” he said. “The churches are damaged and desecrated, deprived of old books and precious furniture. Schools, government buildings, municipal buildings have been destroyed, along with the post office, the hospital and the clinic.”
The archbishop lamented, “I think of all those who are suffering today in mourning and discomfort: We ask everyone to pray for us.”
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