As Assyrian Christians were celebrating Easter Sunday, militants from the Islamic State blew up the 80-year-old church of the Virgin Mary in Tal Nasri village in the western countryside of Hasaka province, in northeastern Syria.
Since last February, Tal Nasri has been under the control of the jihadist group led by self-proclaimed Caliph al-Baghdadi. Fighters of Kurdish militias along with Christians who have taken up arms have been struggling for some time trying to regain control of the village.
According to reports, ISIS jihadists booby-trapped the church with explosives before detonating it.
The Church of the Virgin Mary was originally built in 1934 and is one of three main churches in the Assyrian village of Tal Nasri, which is located to the south of Tal Tamr town that was earlier overrun by ISIS.
According to the Assyrian International News Agency (AINA), the church has been “leveled.”
Christians are a small minority in Syria, comprising just 10% of Syria’s mostly Muslim Sunni population. Assyrian Easter celebrations this year have been limited to prayers and masses because of the dire circumstances in the conflict-ridden country.
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