(21 Feb 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tel Tal village, Hasaka, Syria – 27 January 2025
1. Man ringing bell
2. Pan of empty alleyways
3. Local resident Ishaq Nissan showing abandoned houses, UPSOUND (Arabic):
“This is the house of Mukhtar (head of the village) Eshoo Damo. He died in the village and his family migrated to Germany.”
4. People walking
5. Local resident Ishaq Nissan showing abandoned houses, UPSOUND (Arabic):
“This is Isaac Khail Barkho’s (house), he is in Germany, in Berlin. He lives in Berlin and the (people) house there, is in Australia, in Sydney.”
6. Wide of abandoned houses
7. Close of tea being poured
8. Various of Nissan with his wife at home
9. Close of fence
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Elias Antar, Head of Relations Office for the Assyrian al Khabur Guards:
“The scenes (people in power) that we see of these beards (men with beards) remind us of Daesh (Islamic State group) beards. If you want honesty, these scenes are not comforting (for) the society. It doesn’t provide relief for all components.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Qamishli, Syria – 28 January 2025
11. Pan of Virgin Mary Church for Syriac Orthodox
12. People entering church for evening prayer
13. Various of people reciting prayers
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hasaka, Syria – 27 January 2025
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bishop Maurice Amsih, Archbishop of Al-Jazeera and the Euphrates of Syriac Orthodox:
“Sunnis are our brothers and they are the majority in Syria today, but we are against the establishment of the Islamic Sharia for all components. We and all people of the country want them to treat us in a civil way.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tel Nasri village, Hasaka, Syria – 27 January 2025
15. Various of damaged car on a roundabout
16. Wide of destroyed Virgin Mary Church
17. Children playing football
18. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Maria Hanna, Civil Society Activist:
“The fall of (former Syrian President Bashar) Assad was a joy, but this joy was followed by the fear from the unknown future. There is an unclear situation with a hazy future. I mean we don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Qamishli, Syria – 28 January 2025
19. Various of people reciting prayers in church
20. People attending evening mass
21. Woman lighting a candle
STORYLINE:
It was a mournful moment for Christians in Syria.
A bell that once summoned residents to worship rang out but the church was no longer there.
The Saint Odisho church was blown up by the Islamic State (IS) group a decade ago, leaving Tel Tal village in Syria almost empty of residents.
A local Christian who fled the attack, Ishaq Nissan, showed The Associated Press now uninhabited homes, explaining where families had gone: U.S., Australia, Canada or Europe.
This month, northeast Syria’s remaining Christians will mark the 10th anniversary of the IS attack on over 30 villages along the Khabur river.
On Feb. 23, 2015, dozens of Christians were killed or wounded and over 200 were taken hostage.
Churches were blown up and thousands of people fled.
The anniversary comes as Christians worry about the future of Syria following the ouster of longtime Syrian President Bashar Assad in December by insurgents led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.
HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa is now interim president and most government members come from Islamic factions.
Al-Sharaa has repeatedly said religious rights will be protected in post-Assad Syria.
Though HTS had been an al-Qaida affiliate, it is opposed to IS and fought deadly battles with it over the years.
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