Ishtartv.com - syriacpress.com
02/10/2025
ANAZ, Syria — Grief, anxiety, and tension have become a daily reality
for the Christian residents of Wadi al-Nasara (Valley of Christians) in the
countryside of Syrian governorates of Hemto (Hama) and Hmoth (Homs) governorate
as sporadic murders and kidnappings unsettle the valley’s largely Christian
population.
In the latest crime, part of a pattern of targeted attacks aimed at
pressuring Christians to abandon their homes, villages, and lands, four masked
gunmen on motorcycles reportedly affiliated with the General Security Service
of the central government opened fire with roughly 30 bullets on a group of
young men gathered outside the office of the mukhtar of Anaz village. The
attackers then fled toward the village of Al-Hosn, according to informed
sources.
The assault killed three young men, Wissam George Mansour and
Shafiq Rafiq Mansour, cousins, and Pierre Hariqis, who was critically wounded
and later succumbed to his injuries. Eyewitnesses described the scene as
further proof of systematic killings against Christians and other indigenous
communities in the region, underscoring the continuation of identity-based
violence in Wadi al-Nasara.
In response, enraged villagers torched a General Security
checkpoint in Anaz and blocked the road connecting Al-Hosn to Wadi
al-Nasara. Anger quickly spread into a general strike across the valley,
shutting down streets in all villages. Calls circulated urging churches to
ring their bells and demanding that Christian candidates withdraw from
government-run elections, which locals denounced as “illegitimate and not
elected by the people.”
Local dignitaries intervened to calm the situation and reopen the
road, but villagers agreed only on the condition that the General Security
Service withdraw from the area. “The situation is now under control,” said
local notable Kabi Sheikh, though residents and community leaders continue
to demand that the perpetrators be arrested and brought to justice.
Marhaf al-Nassan, head of Internal Security in Hmoth, condemned the
crime and rejected all forms of violence threatening community stability.
He asserted that the attack aimed to “undermine security, spread fear in the
region, and influence the People’s Assembly election process.” He added that
“the relevant authorities immediately took the necessary measures to secure the
area, pursue the perpetrators, and bring them to justice,” while urging
residents not to “be swayed by rumors or provocations.”
Many locals dismissed al-Nassan’s statement as formulaic, noting that
the government issues nearly identical declarations after countless incidents
in Wadi al-Nasara, with only the names and locations altered. “Rumors lose
their meaning when they become facts repeated over and over,” one resident
said, accusing the government of deliberately downplaying the crisis to mask
its inability — or unwillingness — to provide security.
Others went further, calling on the government to resign over its role
in the unprecedented rise in killings, reprisals, and so-called “individual
incidents” across Syria, including in Suwayda and along coast.
The violence was compounded by another incident on the same
day. Armed men stormed the home of Abdo Tahoumi in the village of Ba‘it,
restraining the family at gunpoint and stealing money before escaping.
For residents of Wadi al-Nasara, the mounting bloodshed is not just
about crime — it is about survival, identity, and the fear of being erased from
their ancestral valley.
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