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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIn Syria, residents return to battered town retaken by government
QUSAIR, Syria A line of unmarked cars and pickup trucks ferried weary Hezbollah fighters back to Lebanon on Sunday as stunned residents began returning to this war-ravaged town, in Syrian government control again after a fierce three-week battle that ended last week.
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Among the first to return were various families from Qusair's Christian minority, who represented perhaps 10% of the more than 40,000 residents of Qusair. Many arrived to find rubble in place of homes where their families had lived for generations. In front of one row of caved-in structures, several Christian residents profusely thanked a Hezbollah commander for having helped eject the rebels, whom the Christians viewed as hostile to non-Muslims.
"We've come back to our home and we don't have a place to sit or water to drink," said a retired house painter, 66, who gazed forlornly at the battered remains of a pair of adjacent homes where he and his extended family had lived for decades. "I don't understand what kind of freedom [the rebels] were looking for," added the resident, Salim, who, like others, asked to be identified only by his first name for security reasons.
Several holes pierced the gold-colored dome of St. Elias Roman Catholic Church, a prominent structure in the center of town. Inside, the marble altar was broken, the likenesses of saints and Christ were defaced and the walls were filled with anti-Christian graffiti with sayings such as, "The religion of our master will be victorious against all tyrants."
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-syria-qusair-20130610,0,3657384.story
(It is noteworthy that the Christians flee from the insurgents across the country. And when government authority is restored, they come back.)
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)May the rest of their days be full of peace.
War is hell. That's why I would never sit here and wish it on anyone. It seems Syria had peace for a long time, and now they don't. What changed that?
oberliner
(58,724 posts)One can say the same about North Korea.
RobertEarl
(13,685 posts)I don't get your point.