Christian Town in Central Syria Attacked for Second Time This Year

AL-SUQAYLABIYAH, Syria —

A mostly Christian town in Syria's Hama province has been attacked for the second time in six months by men from a neighboring Sunni town, International Christian Concern (ICC) reported Oct. 24. The violence in Al-Suqaylabiyah on the night of Oct. 3 ended in several arrests, and no deaths were reported.

According to ICC, the trouble started when young men from nearby Al-Qalaa, also called Qalaat al-Madiq, tried to intimidate a shop owner and local men made them leave. That night they came back armed and in greater numbers. They fired at houses and shot at the vehicle of an Orthodox priest, who escaped unhurt.

Syrian state television called it a “brawl among young people” during which a shop was attacked, The National reported. State TV said calm had returned “after the brawl was contained and several of those involved were arrested.” Security forces were also sent to Qalaat al-Madiq, about 4 kilometers to the north. Hama provincial officials blamed “systematic incitement among the components of the Syrian people.”

ICC said police arrested several of the attackers and two Christian men, and the two Christians were released two days later. Father Fadi Sankari, a Greek Orthodox priest in the town, wrote on Facebook that “No one has the right to enter your homes or threaten your safety and dignity” and urged Christians to stand firm.

The town was also attacked before Easter. ICC said villagers had stopped young men from harassing a young woman, and the men came back as a mob carrying sticks and knives. A resident told ICC that each attack has been worse than the one before. Mervyn Thomas, founder president of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, condemned the violence and called on other nations to press Syria's government to confront extremism, hate speech and sectarian incitement.

Al-Suqaylabiyah, in the Ghab Plain, has about 16,000 residents, most of them Greek Orthodox, according to The National. The paper said some of the town's men served in a pro-government militia under Bashar al-Assad, and those ties fed tensions with surrounding Sunni communities after his fall in December 2024. Before Syria's civil war began in 2011, the country had about 850,000 Christians, roughly 4.5% of the population.