Syrian churches have curtailed Easter celebrations after a rampage by armed Sunnis into a mostly Christian town in the centre of the country.
Dozens of gunmen on motorcycles stormed Suqaylabiyah on Saturday, according to church and other sources, firing guns, smashing up cars and damaging store fronts as people hid inside buildings. It is believed the gunmen came from farming areas near Suqaylabiyah. There were no casualties reported.
The attack followed the expulsion of two Sunni villagers who had entered the town on Friday and allegedly harassed a local woman. Security forces entered Suqaylabiyah late on Saturday, preventing further violence.
The country's Greek Orthodox and Catholic patriarchs said in a joint statement on Sunday that Easter this year will be celebrated in Syria “only with prayer inside the churches” after the attack on Suqaylabiyah.
They said Syria is facing “challenges” aimed at undermining “common living between Muslims and Christians”. They called for confiscation of illegal weapons, equal treatment of all citizens and “respect for individual and public rights”.
The Syrian government, led by Sunni Islamists, has made improving relations with the US its top priority. This has helped spare Christians violence dealt to other minorities, mainly the Druze and Alawites, since the downfall of the Assad regime on December 2024.
Suqaylabiyah, in the Ghab Plain of Hama, has 16,000 inhabitants who are mainly Greek Orthodox. Its population was down from 20,000 in December 2024. Many loyalists of the regime in the town fled after the downfall of former president Bashar Al Assad.
That regime, dominated by members of the Alawite sect of Shia Islam, sought to build a so-called “alliance of minorities”, especially during the 2011 to 2024 civil war, to counter Sunni numerical superiority.
It recruited some Christians from Suqaylabiyah during the war into a local brigade of the National Defence Forces, a main loyalist auxiliary. The town's association with the bygone order contributed to tension between Suqaylabiyah and its mostly Sunni surroundings after December 2024, although many Sunnis across Syria were part of the forces that fought on behalf of the former president.
Tension between Muslims and Christians across Syria rose this month when Damascus governorate banned the sale of alcohol except in Christian neighbourhoods in the city.
Many Christians said the alcohol ban stigmatised the community by associating the Christians with perceived vice. Some Christians protested in the old quarter of the capital, prompting the governorate to issue a statement in which it appeared to have backed down, although the order may be still enforced. Muslims staged demonstrations in Damascus and in Aleppo, further charging the atmosphere.
A separate statement on Sunday by the Greek Orthodox Church, said the gunmen attacked and terrorised Suqaylabiyah, riddling a statue of the Virgin Mary with bullets, damaging property and prompting Christians to assemble in front of the main church of the town in an expression of “popular anger”.
Those who attacked the town must be “apprehended and held accountable”, and compensation must be awarded to owners whose property was damaged and the state must assume responsibility for “preserving civil peace”.
Syrian Christians usually celebrate Easter with bands marching in the streets, as well as egg hunts and other outdoor events for children. Easter this year will be on April 5 for western Christians and on April 12 for eastern Christians.
At the time the Syrian civil war began, the country had about 850,000 Christians, about 4.5 per cent of the population. They are mainly divided between Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, and Catholics of the Greek Melkite, Maronite, Chaldean and Armenian churches.
