Source: Morning Star News, November 5, 2013
Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Selwanos Boutros Alnemeh called it “the most serious and biggest massacre of Christians in Syria in the past two years and a half.”
The October 21 Islamist rebel siege of Sadad, a small town of 15,000 mostly Syriac Orthodox Christians 160 kilometers (95 miles) north of Damascus, left 45 civilians dead, including several women and children. Many were thrown into mass graves, reports the Fides News Agency.
Before Syrian government forces retook Sadad, about 2,500 families had fled and are now living as refugees scattered among the cities of Damascus, Homs, Fayrouza, Zaydal, Maskane, and Al-Fhayle, the archbishop said.
“The churches are damaged and desecrated, deprived of old books and precious furniture. Schools, government buildings, [and] municipal buildings have been destroyed, along with the post office, the hospital, and the clinic,” he told Fides.
» See also 128-Foot Bronze Jesus Statue Erected in War-torn Syria (Assyrian International News Agency).