Protests erupted following the burning of a Christmas tree in Suqaylabiyah, a Christian-majority town in Syria, causing tension between foreign fighters and locals.
The arson was apparently carried out by foreign fighters who were detained. It has drawn attention to Hayat Tahir al-Sham (HTS), the Islamist rebels who toppled President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, reported the BBC.
A video uploaded by the Guardian to YouTube shows masked people setting the tree on fire on Christmas Eve.
In response, HTS leaders assured the community they’d protect their rights, promising to repair the tree and publicly holding a cross in solidarity–an unusual gesture for Islamist leaders the BBC reported.
Syrian Christians are a religious minority in a region that predominantly practices Islam with the Christian population fleeing Syria, Egypt, Palestine and Iraq due to strife.
Protestors in Damascus, including Christians, chanted against foreign fighters, saying, “Syria is free, non-Syrians should leave,” reported the BBC.
HTS, once a jihadist group, claimed to be pivoting to a more inclusive governance, with its new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa announcing the disbandment of armed groups to create a unified Syria.
Sharaa, who has publicly vowed to not negatively interfere in Lebanon, held talks with senior diplomats from Jordan, Qatar and the United States to discuss future cooperation.
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