Syria: Kurdish soldiers loot Christian homes; archbishop escapes death

September 22, 2016

Kurdish forces fired bullets into the home of a Syrian Catholic archbishop as part of a campaign of intimidation against Christians.

Archbishop Jacques Behnan Hindo, who is based in the northeastern Syrian city of Al-Hasakah, told the Fides news agency that he narrowly escaped being shot in the head.

“In many cases they expelled the Christians from their homes under the threat of Kalashnikovs,” he said. “And where they enter, they loot everything.”

As belligerents in the Syrian Civil War who oppose the government as well as the Islamic State, Kurdish forces now control one-fifth of Syria and have established Rojava, a semi-autonomous state.

 

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Further information:

• Archbishop Hindo: violence and intimidation of the Kurd militias on Christians increase in Hassaké (Fides)