Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home News

Terror escalates for Syria’s Christians

byZenit
26 February 2015 - Updated on 1 April 2021
Reading Time: 3 mins read
AA
Displaced Syrian girl

Safe haven: A displaced Syrian girl finds temporary shelter at a school in Damascus, Syria, on February 23. Photo: CNS/Youssef Badawi, EPA

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Displaced Syrian girl
Safe haven: A displaced Syrian girl finds temporary shelter at a school in Damascus, Syria, on February 23.
Photo: CNS/Youssef Badawi, EPA

FEARS are growing for the safety of more than 100 people taken captive on Tuesday (February 24) as the extremist group Islamic State seized Christian villages in Hassake governorate, north-east Syria.

Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana, who works in support of persecuted Christians in the region, received a telephone update on the situation from a contact in Hassake city about midnight on Tuesday.

Fr Youkhana relayed the latest information in a message sent to Catholic agencies, including Aid to the Church in Need, early yesterday (February 25).

He wrote: “The 24 families from Tel Gouran, 34 families from Tel Jazira, and 14 fighters (12 male and two females) from Tel Hormizd are captured and taken to the Arab Sunni village of Um Al-Masamier.”

So far it has not been confirmed how many people are in the abducted families.

“They are alive so far, but the men are separated from women and children.”

Fr Youkhana described the latest situation in the various villages.

“The 50-plus families in Tel Shamiran are still surrounded. It is unclear if IS will attack the village,” he said.

He reported that in Tel Tamar a car bomb exploded, but no casualties were reported.

Three mortar shells were fired into Tel Nasri from the other side of Khabour River. Again no casualties were reported.

Related Stories

Brisbane plays a role as churches help Iraqi Christians displaced by Islamic State

Iconographer fled war in Syria and was embraced by a local parish, gives away Last Supper in thanks

Escaping ISIS at 97 years old, Shami Eso is overjoyed ‘with the power of God’ as she settles into Brisbane

PYD (Democratic Union Kurdish Party) fighters have retaken Toma Yelda hill, which is of strategic importance.

Fr Youkhana wrote: “By now, only around 200 families are still in Khabour region, more than 100 (are) in Tel Tamar and others (are) in different villages not controlled by IS.

“Around 1000 families from Khabour are displaced in Hassake and Qamishli.

“His Grace Bishop Mar Aprem Athniel (of the Assyrian Church of the East) who resides in Hassake and hasn’t left it despite all difficulties, is doing his best to host and support the displaced.

“However, due to the lack of resources and the long years of the disaster, there is an urgent need of action to support the displaced families through the Church.”

Fr Youkhana said “our thoughts are with the suffering people”.

“We pray for an end to this long history of persecution in our countries,” he said.

Meanwhile, Catholic News Service reported that a prominent Syrian Christian political leader had called for United States-led coalition forces to use airstrikes to aid fellow Christian and Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State militants following reports of flagrant abductions and church burnings in north-east Syria.

“There is a need for immediate action similar to what took place in Kobani,” president of the Syriac National Council of Syria Bassam Ishak told Catholic News Service, referring to a key Kurdish city in Syria.

There, near the border with Turkey and with help from international airstrikes, the Kurds drove out the extremist militants in January after a four-month siege resulted in a victory against the extremists.

Mr Ishak’s appeal to stop the Islamic State advancement has been echoed by Syriac Catholic Archbishop Jacques Hindo of Hassake.

“I wish to say quite clearly that we have the feeling of being abandoned into the hands of those Daesh (the Arabic acronym for Islamic State),” Archbishop Hindo told the Vatican’s Fides news service. “American bombers flew over the area several times, but without taking action.”

Analysts in Washington confirmed his information. They said US planes flew overhead, but there were no airstrikes made against Islamic State militants in the Hassake area.

Zenit and CNS

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Busking for Queensland kids

Next Post

New nuncio ‘big lift’ for Filipinos

Zenit

Related Posts

Iraqi medical students with Archbishop Mark Coleridge
Features

Brisbane plays a role as churches help Iraqi Christians displaced by Islamic State

24 November 2021
News

Iconographer fled war in Syria and was embraced by a local parish, gives away Last Supper in thanks

8 May 2020 - Updated on 1 April 2021
People

Escaping ISIS at 97 years old, Shami Eso is overjoyed ‘with the power of God’ as she settles into Brisbane

16 July 2019 - Updated on 1 April 2021
Next Post

New nuncio ‘big lift’ for Filipinos

Church brings healing to life

consecrated life

‘Wake up the world’, celebrating the Year of Consecrated Life

Popular News

  • Here are the stories of 10 new saints being canonised this Sunday

    Here are the stories of 10 new saints being canonised this Sunday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Queensland election: The pro-life political parties committed to abortion law reforms

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Parishes unite for Logan deanery family festival this Sunday

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Angel’s Kitchen serves hot meals to the hungry in Southport

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies
QLD

Gwen has given 15,000 hours of cuddles to sick and premature babies

by Joe Higgins
20 May 2022
0

BRISBANE grandmother Gwendoline Grant has clocked up 15,000 hours cuddling and caring for sick and premature babies...

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

Helping stroke survivors earns Ozcare volunteer national recognition

20 May 2022
Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

Br Alan Moss remembered for a life of faith and learning

19 May 2022
Catholic relationship advisers offer five tips to look after your mental health

Nationwide rosary event happening for Australia’s patroness this Saturday

19 May 2022
Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

Francis offers advice on politics: Seek unity, don’t get lost in conflict

19 May 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping