A group of rebels close to Muslim extremists abducted an Armenian Catholic priest named Father Michael and an as yet unidentified Orthodox priest on Sunday. Both were working in Aleppo. Sources tell AsiaNews that the city's Christian residents are very concerned about the attack. "The extremist violence is getting worse every day. Muslim militias are killing anyone they suspect of having links to the regime, including women and children. People in the area compare the time now to the Ottoman conquest 500 years ago."
For weeks, residents have been complaining about the presence of troops from al-Nusra Front, a group of Islamic extremists who want to transform Syria into an Islamic state and are feared by everyone, even the rebel Free Syrian Army.
On February 6, al-Nusra Front troops stormed the Christian neighborhood of Jdeideh. In the same area, the city's largest evangelical church was destroyed back in November.
There are many foreigners in the al-Nusra Front, including Muslims from Indonesia and the Philippines, as confirmed by a statement published online by the leader of Abu Sayyaf, an extremist Muslim group operating in the Philippines with links to al-Qaeda. The statement calls on Muslims to go to Syria and sacrifice their lives for Islam.
"These fighters live for violence and murder. They act without compassion and make no distinction between people," sources say. "When they kill, they turn to God as if it is an act of sacrifice."
Meanwhile, fighting between the military and rebel groups continues across Syria. More than 60,000 have died so far.
Yesterday, a car bomb killed 13 people near the Turkish border at a roadblock at Cilvegozu. It is a border crossing about 100 kilometers northwest of Aleppo and is the main escape route for Syrian refugees fleeing the war. The route has been under rebel control for several months.
Source: AsiaNews
