Overview
- The predominantly Christian town of Suqaylabiyah was attacked Saturday by motorcycle groups who torched cars and smashed shops, with no casualties reported.
- Syria’s Greek Orthodox and Catholic patriarchs ordered Easter observances kept to prayers inside churches, citing the violence.
- Palm Sunday services in Damascus were subdued under tight security, with officers at church gates and some Old City roads closed.
- Accounts differ over what happened, as rights monitors and AP reported gunmen from nearby Qalaat al-Madiq while state media called it a brawl and said arrests restored calm, and hundreds later marched to demand justice.
- The episode has stoked long-running fears for Christians in Syria, whose numbers have fallen from about one million before 2011 to fewer than 300,000 after years of war and deadly attacks.