Free Syrian Army fighters take a break
from fighting with forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar
Al-Assad in downtown Aleppo August 1, 2012. (Photo: REUTERS/Goran
Tomasevic)
Christians in Syria are becoming more and more
afraid of the situation in the civil war-hit country and are
finding themselves in greater need of humanitarian aid, a bishop
from the embattled city of Aleppo has said.
"People are terrified," said Chaldean Christian Bishop Antoine
Audo last week. "They fear a situation that is becoming more and
more violent and uncertain."
Like a host of other cities across Syria, government forces are
battling rebel troops set on taking down the regime of Syria's
President Bashar al-Assad. Thousands of people have already fled
the war-torn areas, but those trapped in the crossfire are
running out of food and basic supplies.
"People are sleeping in schools, in parks," Audo continued.
"There is a great human need now."
"People don't know what will come next," the bishop added. "We
are looking at what happened in Egypt, in Tunisia, in Iraq, the
uncertainty."
Like much of the rest of the country, Christians in Aleppo are
the minority at 8 to 10 per cent of the population, the Seattle
Times shared.
On Friday, reports said that another 20 people lost their lives
in clashes in Aleppo, bringing the total casualties of the day
across the country to 110. On Wednesday, the fighting had spread
to Bab Tuma and Bab Sharqi, two traditional Christian districts
of the capital city of Damascus.
Over 17,000 people, many of them civilians, have lost their
lives in the conflict since it began last year. Scores of people
are being killed every day, as hundreds are continuously being
forced from their homes. The United Nations, which recently saw
the resignation of Kofi Annan as the organisation's Syrian
envoy, has failed to negotiate peace agreement between the Assad
and rebel forces.
Assad has claimed that the rebels are terrorists and has denied
accusations by the international community that any form of
dissent in his country is being violently suppressed.
Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post Reporter
