Inside the Battle for Syria's ......

Ancient Christian Village.

This is from International Christian Concern [ICC] / "Persecution" ----

ICC Note: The war in Syria has produced numerous disturbing images over the past two-plus years. In the past week, the attack on the ancient Christian village of Maaloula has provided a snapshot of the dangers of the war. Reports have streamed out of the village from nuns huddling in monasteries with orphans gathered around them as the firefights echo outside and mortars rain down on the village.
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9/12/2013 Syria (RT) Anti-Assad rebels have been forced out of many parts of Syria's ancient Christian village of Maaloula, but the fighting there remains heavy, RT correspondent Maria Finoshina reports from the scene.

After arriving in the center of the village Wednesday, Maria Finoshina and the RT camera crew saw signs of a recent battle and heard shelling. Syrian Army soldiers said the village was freed from jihadists. The claim would later in the day turn out to be premature.

Al-Nursa Front fighters first attacked the village last Wednesday. The following seven days saw Maaloula torn between the rebels and government forces, with both occasionally gaining control over the village.

Some residents, who claim rebels have restored to looting, executions and forcing residents to convert to Islam, chose to join the Army to defend the village. Among them, Saba Ubeid, a store owner, said when filmed by RT in 2012 that he was sure the rebels would never come to the village. This time he was armed with a gun and fought alongside Syrian soldiers.

"They sent terrorists here from all corners of the world to kill Syrian people and each other. Why? I ask the world, why?" he cried out. "While in Europe if a citizen is simply slapped in the face, there'll be a scandal. While Syrians---how many victims, how many hundreds of thousands have been slaughtered? When will it stop?"

Maaloula, a mountain village of 2,000 people, is the center of Christianity in the region. Alongside with Catholic and Orthodox monasteries there are remains of numerous convents, churches, shrines and sanctuaries. It is also one of the very few places in the world where people still speak Western Aramaic, a Biblical language that Jesus is believed to have spoken.

The village, built into a rugged mountainside, is a major pilgrimage destination for Christians and Muslims from around the world. It is an ancient sanctuary on a UNESCO list of proposed World Heritage sites.

Despite sporadic reports of government troops regaining control over the village, at the time RT's Maria Finoshina was in Maaloula the rebels still occupied the mountaintop Safir hotel, a strategic vantage point for sniper attacks.

"Our goal was to free it and go to the Mar Takhla monastery, but we still haven't been able to," one of the soldiers says.
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LINK:
http://www.persecution.org/2013/09/13/inside-the-battle-for-syrias-ancient-Christian-village-video