The "civilized" face that Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, the head of the jihadist rebels who ousted Assad in Syria when he took power, wanted to show was nothing more than a well-constructed façade. In recent days, the death toll in Syria has exceeded a thousand, including one Greek Orthodox, while, according to testimonies, the Christians left in the country fear for their lives.
HDN Newsroom
A Greek Orthodox man is among the victims of bloodshed raging in western Syria, his son, father George, spoke to Greek public broadcaster ERT saying he feared for his life and that of his family.
"They are extremely dangerous. We fear that jihadists will enter our homes, as they did in Balmakeh, a Christian village near Tartus. We cannot move as the borders are closed. The road to Damascus is not safe. Personally, I will try to leave as soon as possible," he says.
Another Christian living in Syria, Molham al-Botros, told SKAI: "Alawites, Christians, whoever they found led to death. In the town of Banias, a priest with his family and I think his father killed them."
"I'm scared but what can you do? This is the government, they have weapons. They collected all the weapons from the people. There are no weapons anymore. They have the guns," he said.
"Christians are unwanted"
Testimonies reveal that the phrases currently prevalent in Syria are: "This country is not for Christians, nor for Alawites. The country is for Islamists." "You are foreigners from Syrian territory, you are not Syrians you have to flee or to death." "Either they kill you or you leave Syria."
"We go to church but with fear," Christian Molham al-Botros revealed, claiming that the procession of the Easter epitaph was forbidden.
More than 1,000 people have died in fighting in Syria and among the dead civilians is a Greek Orthodox.
Father George, son of the dead Greek Orthodox, describes the horrors they are living in Syria
The victim's son spoke to ERT and described the moments of horror his family experienced.
"The first time when they searched our house in the morning, they didn't attack us, but at night they stole my car and broke the glass of my father's car. Then my father came down to check his car and someone shot him in the head and killed him. Then they stole his car.
My father's body was left on the road and we couldn't reach it because they blocked the road and didn't let the ambulance arrive to save people. After 4 hours, with the help of a member of the General Security, we managed to transport my father's body by hearse," said father George, the victim's son.
He then gave an insight into the situation in the fighting between Alawites and Sunni fanatics in his neighborhood.
"Many of our neighbours were killed, their houses were burned, their properties were torn apart and something abnormal happened. What you see with the naked eye cannot be described in words. The neighborhood was deserted by all its residents and all the shops were closed and everything was broken. The murder was carried out according to the identity of the other. They would ask if he was an Alawite and then kill him. We as Christians are affected only in our possessions. The only Christian killed in Banias was my father," he explains.
"They are extremely dangerous. We fear that jihadists will enter our homes, as they did in Balmakeh, a Christian village near Tartus. We cannot move as the borders are closed. The road to Damascus is not safe. Personally, I will try to leave as soon as possible," Father George said.
