As the sound of weapons grows louder and human stories fade, civilians in Syria — especially Christians — once again find themselves trapped between gunfire and the calculations of rival powers. This time, the crisis is unfolding in Gozarto (Jazira) in North and East Syria. The Christian communities long rooted in this land have endured fear and instability amid 15 years of war that has drained its resources and stripped many of their livelihoods.
Following the latest escalation between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Hasakah has fallen into an eerie calm after the Democratic Autonomous Administration of the Region of North and East Syria (DAARNES) declared a general mobilization and imposed a curfew across the area. Inside homes, anxiety remains palpable. Families struggle to comfort children as Turkish drones buzz and US warplanes break the sound barrier overhead, reopening traumas from the expansion and atrocities of the Islamic State (ISIS) a decade ago.
As events unfold, fear has spread among Christians throughout the region. In Hasakah, which has become the new frontline between the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) and SDF, a Assyrian woman told SyriacPress that, “With the news of ISIS prisoners escaping from Al-Shaddadi Prison, our fear has grown. We do not want the massacres in the Khabur villages against our people to be repeated.”
Another resident, identified as R.N., said, “We hurriedly packed our belongings, fearing another displacement, as if 2015 is still present in all its weight — it has never truly left us,” referring to the ISIS occupation of Assyrian villages in the Khabur River Valley and the massacres, kidnappings, forced displacement, and enslavement that followed.
Read more: http://www.aina.org/news/20260120110036.htm
By Syriac Press & Aina
