Al-Qaeda Syrian Rebels Take Historic Christian Village

Jamal Halaby
AP
September 8, 2013

Rebels including al-Qaida-linked fighters gained control of a Christian village northeast of the capital Damascus, Syrian activists said Sunday. Government media provided a dramatically different account of the battle suggesting regime forces were winning.

It was impossible to independently verify the reports from Maaloula, a scenic mountain community known for being one of the few places in the world where residents still speak the ancient Middle Eastern language of Aramaic. The village is on a UNESCO list of tentative world heritage sites.

This article was posted: Sunday, September 8, 2013 at 12:57 pm

Tags: foreign affairs, war