FILE - In this Sunday, April 15, 2012 file photo, Syrian Orthodox Christians attend Easter mass in Damascus, Syria. Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Syria's population of more than 22 million, say they are particularly vulnerable to the violence that has been sweeping the country since March 2011. They are fearful that Syria will become another Iraq, with Christians caught in the crossfire between rival Islamic groups. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)
Syrian Christians fear bleak future after Assad
FILE - In this Sunday, April 15, 2012 file photo, Syrian Orthodox Christians attend Easter mass in Damascus, Syria. Christians, who make up about 10 percent of Syria's population of more than 22 million, say they are particularly vulnerable to the violence that has been sweeping the country since March 2011. They are fearful that Syria will become another Iraq, with Christians caught in the crossfire between rival Islamic groups. (AP Photo/Bassem Tellawi, File)
By BARBARA SURK
Associated Press /
December 23, 2012
Text Size:
- –
- +
Page 2 of 2 --
Al-Qaida-inspired groups have become the most organized fighting units, increasingly leading battles for parts of Aleppo or assaults on military installations outside the city.
‘‘Most (Christians) want to return (to Syria), but they want to wait until the fighting is over and see who will be ruling Syria after the war,’’ Mira said.
Aleppo’s schools are closed. Food and electricity are scarce. Most stores have been shut for months. Even though some areas of the city — including the predominantly Christian district along Faisal Street — are still controlled by government forces, the streets are unsafe, she said.
Aya lamented that it’s nearly impossible to imagine the country going back to what it was. In the weeks before she fled for good, she said, the violence overwhelmed her.
‘‘There was so much shooting, such terrible bombings, and I could not take it,’’ she said. ‘‘In two weeks I slept for 10 hours, I did not eat and I cried all the time, because my city was turning into ruins, and I saw it with my own eyes.’’
© Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
