Syria: Mob violence in Christian town

Greater leadership is needed in Syria amidst ongoing violence and the persecution of minorities, according to a source familiar with the situation.

The predominantly Christian town of Suqaylabiyah, in the western-central Hama province, has been the subject of recent upheaval, where mob violence broke out after two Muslim men were expelled from the town after harassing a Christian woman.

Martin Parsons, CEO of the Lindisfarne Centre for the Study of Christian Persecution, told en of how the mob, egged on by the banished Muslims, arrived in the town of around 16,000 residents on motorbikes and “fired guns [and] smashed up cars and shop fronts”.