Islamists are massacring Syria’s Christians

On Sunday, a suicide bomber entered the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Damascus, opened fire, and proceeded to detonate an explosive vest. He killed at least 25 worshippers, including children. Over 60 others were severely injured. It was the deadliest attack on Syria’s Christian minority in years, and a devastating reminder for all of Syria’s religious minorities that the fall of the brutal Assad regime hasn’t ended their nightmare.

Syrian officials have blamed Islamic State (ISIS), which – though officially defeated – remains alive through sleeper cells. ISIS has not claimed responsibility, leading to questions whether it was truly behind the bombing. But regardless of the perpetrator, the method and target align with a long, documented pattern of jihadist violence against religious minorities in Syria. In addition to the church bombing, planned attacks on Shiite shrines and public spaces were reportedly thwarted.

The bombing stirred memories of ISIS’s self-proclaimed caliphate, which from 2014 to 2019 imposed an explicitly genocidal regime across parts of Syria and Iraq. Then, Christians were given ultimatums: convert to Islam, pay a punitive tax known as a jizya, flee or be executed. Crosses were torn down, churches destroyed and clergy murdered. In cities like Raqqa, many Christians who didn’t escape were either forced to convert or were tortured, kidnapped or killed.

Christians were not ISIS’s only targets. Yazidis were systematically murdered and enslaved. Yazidi women were raped en masse. Shiite Muslims, Druze and Ismailis were branded heretics and hunted. ISIS fighters recorded their massacres and turned their genocide into monstrous propaganda. Now, five years after the fall of ISIS, its ideology is creeping back into Syria.

Since the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December, the United Nations and mainstream media outlets have referred to the attacks on Christians and other religious minorities in Syria as ‘sectarian violence’. But this term misleads the public and obscures what is actually happening.

In March 2025, militants launched coordinated attacks on Alawite communities such as Tartous and Latakia. The bombings left dozens dead and sent a chill through Christian towns along the coast. Many saw it as a prelude – a test run by extremists probing the strength of Syria’s new government, led by Ahmed al-Sharaa. Yet after Sunday’s bombing, instead of condemning it as a targeted attack on Christians, the UN’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pederson, characterised it as a result of general instability, and even called for ‘restraint’ from all parties.

To be clear, what we are witnessing is the systematic targeting of nearly all religious minorities in Syria – Christians, Druze, Ismailis, Yazidis, Alawites and Shiites – by violent Islamist factions. To call it ‘sectarian violence’ is to imply mutuality where there is none. Minority victims are not aggressors. They are certainly not the ones who need to show ‘restraint’.

Shortly after Sunday’s bombing, Syrians took to the streets. This was not to promote violence or retaliation, but to peacefully encourage other Christians by chanting: ‘Keep your cross held high’, ‘Raise your cross to the highest’ and ‘The blood of Christians is precious’. One woman, who lost eight family members in the attack, told reporters, ‘We love everyone. We don’t have a problem with anyone. But we hope that they love us in return.’

But there is precious little evidence this love is reciprocated. Not only has al-Sharaa spent much of his adult life as a hardline Islamist, a worldview reflected in the makeup of his new government, he is also clearly unwilling or unable to protect religious minorities. Neighborhood militias and emergency patrols have become the only line of defence. But patchwork security isn’t enough when terrorists can walk into a church and blow up families at prayer.

The erasure of Syria’s Christian presence would not only be a humanitarian tragedy, it would also mark the loss of one of the most ancient expressions of the faith. Christianity has existed in Syria since the first century AD. The Apostle Paul’s conversion took place on the road to Damascus. The followers of Jesus were first called ‘Christians’ in nearby Antioch. Cities like Aleppo, Homs and Maaloula were home to thriving Christian communities long before most of Europe was evangelised.

Facing ongoing threats, persecution and economic collapse, thousands of Syrian Christians are desperate to flee – not from lack of love for the country, but out of sheer necessity. Without immediate protections, Christianity in Syria risks becoming a memory, its ancient churches left as hollow monuments in a country that once helped carry the faith to the world.

If the international community refuses to even name the ideology behind these violent attacks, or distinguish the victims from the perpetrators, then Syria’s diversity will vanish. This is not sectarian conflict. This is persecution.

It would also be a mistake for the world to view this as solely Syria’s problem. Religious persecution rooted in jihadist ideology does not stay contained. It spreads across borders, fills power vacuums and thrives when ignored. Sunday’s attack fits a chilling pattern of violence aimed at religious minorities – whether carried out by ISIS remnants, aligned militants or emerging jihadist factions. Syria’s Christians, Druze, Ismailis, Yazidis and others should not be left to face this threat alone.

Religious minorities must be protected from persecution – not only for their sake, but because lasting peace and security begin with defending the most vulnerable.

Kelsey Zorzi is director of advocacy for global religious freedom at ADF International and an international human-rights lawyer. Follow her on X: @KelseyZorzi.