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Looting of Churches in Ghasaniyeh and Jdeideh
Local residents told Human Rights Watch that armed gunmen operating “in the name of the opposition” also broke into and stole from Christian churches in the villages of Ghasaniyeh and Jdeideh, in Latakia governorate, after the villages fell under opposition control.
A Jdeideh resident told Human Rights Watch that after the armed opposition took control of the village on December 11 and government forces had fled, gunmen broke into and stole from the village church and fired numerous shots inside, causing structural damage. Human Rights Watch visited the church on December 18 and observed that the doors bore signs of forced entry, and the windows were shattered. The church doors had been welded shut since the attack to protect against further attack.
The resident said that opposition forces also used the priests’ quarters next to the church to shoot at a neighboring village where government forces were present. In the process, the windows of the priests’ quarters were broken. He also told Human Rights Watch that people acting “in the name of the opposition” had stolen medicine from a clinic belonging to the church, looted homes, and kidnapped civilians. In one kidnapping during the summer of 2012, before opposition fighters controlled the village, he said that a family paid three million Syrian pounds (approximately US$42,250) to free their relative.
A Ghasaniyeh resident told Human Rights Watch that after armed gunmen operating “in the name of the opposition” came into the village in late November they broke into the local church and stole the gas and diesel fuel there. On December 15, Human Rights Watch visited the church, and observed that the church doors had been forced open. A cross had been left on the floor of the church, but the church otherwise appeared undamaged. The resident also told Human Rights Watch that opposition fighters had looted homes and kidnapped one resident, who remained missing. Two men from a local opposition group took the kidnapped man, a civilian whom he knew personally, from his home after opposition forces had taken control of the village. Despite his family’s efforts to secure his release by communicating with the kidnappers and the opposition fighters’ leader, they had not freed him as of December 15.
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Looting of Churches in Ghasaniyeh and Jdeideh
Local residents told Human Rights Watch that armed gunmen operating “in the name of the opposition” also broke into and stole from Christian churches in the villages of Ghasaniyeh and Jdeideh, in Latakia governorate, after the villages fell under opposition control.
A Jdeideh resident told Human Rights Watch that after the armed opposition took control of the village on December 11 and government forces had fled, gunmen broke into and stole from the village church and fired numerous shots inside, causing structural damage. Human Rights Watch visited the church on December 18 and observed that the doors bore signs of forced entry, and the windows were shattered. The church doors had been welded shut since the attack to protect against further attack.
The resident said that opposition forces also used the priests’ quarters next to the church to shoot at a neighboring village where government forces were present. In the process, the windows of the priests’ quarters were broken. He also told Human Rights Watch that people acting “in the name of the opposition” had stolen medicine from a clinic belonging to the church, looted homes, and kidnapped civilians. In one kidnapping during the summer of 2012, before opposition fighters controlled the village, he said that a family paid three million Syrian pounds (approximately US$42,250) to free their relative.
A Ghasaniyeh resident told Human Rights Watch that after armed gunmen operating “in the name of the opposition” came into the village in late November they broke into the local church and stole the gas and diesel fuel there. On December 15, Human Rights Watch visited the church, and observed that the church doors had been forced open. A cross had been left on the floor of the church, but the church otherwise appeared undamaged. The resident also told Human Rights Watch that opposition fighters had looted homes and kidnapped one resident, who remained missing. Two men from a local opposition group took the kidnapped man, a civilian whom he knew personally, from his home after opposition forces had taken control of the village. Despite his family’s efforts to secure his release by communicating with the kidnappers and the opposition fighters’ leader, they had not freed him as of December 15.
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