Syrian Army units still fighting against Al-Qaeda terrorists in Ma’loula (Maaloula).
The battles between the units of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) against the Syrian al-Qaeda offshoot, the al-Nusra Front (Jabhat al-Nusra), in and around the ancient Christian village near Damascus are still ongoing.
The Syrian soldiers try to protect the Christian and Muslim residents of Maaloula (Ma’loula / Arabic: معلولا) against the attacks by the mainly al-Qaeda-affiliated armed terrorist groups in the area in the north of Syria’s capital, Damascus.
The Syrian village of Maaloula is located in the countryside of the capital Damascus and thus, in the Rif of Dimashq (Damascus), about 56 kilometres in the northeast of the capital in Syria.
The ancient mountain city of Maaloula (Ma’loula) is known as one of the last areas where the people are still able to speak Western Aramaic. The other two areas in Syria where the residents are also able to speak Aramaic are the villages near to Ma’loula, Bakh’a and Jubb Adin. The historic Christian village in Syria is also on the UNESCO list of all the world heritage sites, is also the home of two of the oldest surviving monasteries in Syria: the monasteries of Mar Sarkis and Mar Takla.
The locals of Maaloula are mainly Muslims or Christians and the ancient villages was one of the famous places of interest for tourists in Syria. However, since the beginning of the Syrian conflict, the cities in this area near Syria’s capital Damascus were already often attacked and the targets of the foreign-backed terrorist groups and al-Qaeda-linked jihadists.
Thus, the last statement by U.S. Senator Rand Paul about the situation that the Syrian Army and President Bashar al-Assad are trying to protect the Christians in Syria against the armed Islamist forces and al-Qaeda terrorists was correct.
According to the latest reports about the battles taking place in and around the ancient and known Christian village of Maaloula (Ma’loula), it is said that the clashes and fights between the units of the Syrian Army and the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist forces are still ongoing and that the Syrian soldiers in the area have to fight against the Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Nusra Front, the Syrian al-Qaeda offshoot) and against the so-called Qalamun Front. Both Islamist forces, the al-Nusra Front and the Qalamun Front, have already infested and occupied some parts of the historic Christian village in the north of Damascus.
The armed jihadist forces and the foreign-backed terrorists have attacked the Christian village of Maaloula (Ma’loula) and the nearby villages on September 4 and were able to enter the area of the ancient village in the mountains a day later. But after an intense offensive by the units of the Syrian Army and the arrival of reinforcement for the Syrian military in the area, the armed terrorist groups and al-Qaeda-near fighters were forced to pull out of Maaloula some hours later.
However, some groups of the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist forces fighting in this area of the ancient Syrian village near the capital Damascus were able to recapture some parts of Ma’loula after intense battles against the Syrian Army units on Saturday evening. But meanwhile, more reinforcement units for the units of the Syrian Army have arrived in the area.
According to statements of several residents from Ma’loula (Maaloula), the al-Qaeda-near terrorist forces have already attacked several Christian homes and churches in the area. Further, three of the seven historic Christian churches in the village of Maaloula were already burnt down by the US-backed terrorist forces and al-Qaeda jihadists.
