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Beirut:
Christians, threatened by Islamic State (IS) jihadis in Syria, have organised
themselves into a militia to fight the militants, with the help of the Kurdish
forces, according to a media report.
The
Syrian Military Council (MFS) is the main Christian rebel faction in the
al-Hasakah province in north-east Syria, composed of three battalions of 300 to
400 fighters each, EFE reported Friday, citing one of the Christian rebel
commanders, Kino Gabriel.
Since
its launch in January 2013, MFS forces have battled pro-regime troops and the
Al-Nusra Front - a subsidiary of the Al Qaeda in Syria - and are now fighting
the IS.
Gabriel
said there were other Christian armed groups in the Syrian provinces of Hama
and Idleb, but explained that they were not very large.
It
is uncommon to find such Christian militias in Syria, where Christians account
for 9 percent of the population.
Since
the beginning of the Syrian conflict almost four years ago, the Christian
community has been predominantly supportive of President Bashar al-Assad's
regime and opposed to the armed opposition dominated by Sunni rebels.
Most
members of the MFS are Assyrian Christians, an ethnic group mainly living in
the al-Hasakah province, although Gabriel stressed that there were also some
Kurds and Arabs in the region.
At
least 90 Syrian Christians of the Assyrian minority were confirmed kidnapped by
the IS militants from two Assyrian towns in northern Syria, media reported,
citing the monitoring group, Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR)
Tuesday.
According
to figures given by the Christian rebel commander, the number of Assyrians held
hostage by the militants range from 250 to 400, which would make it the biggest
case of mass kidnapping of Christians by the militants and the second-largest
of any minority group, after the capture of 400 to 1,000 Yazidis in Iraq last
August.
According
to Gabriel, the kidnapping of Assyrians may have been in retaliation to several
clashes and attacks launched by the Christian militia against the IS near the
Khabur river.
"Our
main problem now is the inability to cross the Khabur river to attack them (the
militants)," said the Christian militia leader.
Gabriel
is confident that the Kurds and the MFS can defeat the IS: "We will be
able to overcome our enemy."
According
to the Christian group, it is essential to receive military support from the
international community, as well as obtaining heavy weaponry, to emerge victorious
in the war against the IS.