Areligious official: Plenty number of devastated religious sites are the biggest challenges facing us

Many houses of worship such as churches, temples and shrines have been devastated and destroyed, and some have been converted into training camps during the reign of the Islamic State (ISIS) over large areas in north and east of Syria, and the accompanying control of Afrin by the Turkey and its backed Syrian armed opposition groups (Olive Branch).

The number of houses of worship in north and east of Syria is about 2.222 mosques, 68 churches, 12 shrines and 4 Yazidi temples in the region of Afrin. 

Regard the number of the damaged houses of worship throughout north and east of Syria, the co-chair of the Office of Beliefs and Religions Affairs of North and East of Syria, Aziza Khanafer told North-Press that the number of the destroyed mosques has reached 44, while the number of destroyed churches is 11, in addition to 4 Yazidi shrines and 12 other ones, pointing out that 5 mosques have been systematically and completely destroyed. 

The co-chair indicated that Yazidi religious shrines in Afrin were also destroyed by the “Turkish occupation” and the Syrian armed opposition groups, where “4 Yazidi shrines have been systematically and completely destroyed in the region”. 

Regarding the processes of restoration which have been recently started and still going on, Ms. Khanafer stated: “We have repaired and renovated al-Furqan Mosque in the city of Tabqa, and mosques and shrines in Tal Abyad/Gire Spi and al-Jazira region, and now we are renovating a church in the city of Raqqa and another one in Tabqa”, noting that the Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria “supports us in build and renovating the houses of worship in general, in addition to some donations from people”.  

Khanafer pointed out that everyone was hurt by ISIS, where it has displaced the religious and ethnic minorities in Tabqa, Raqqa and Tal Abyad, saying that “the group stipulated the Christians in Tal Abyad to pay the poll tax (al-Jizya) in order to be able to return to their homes, where it had converted their church into a detention center, and the church’s school which was turned into a training camp for the alleged Caliphate cubs for fighting”.

Concerning the difficulties facing the Office of Religious Affairs, the co-chair stressed that the large number of the destroyed religious places during the war, is one of the biggest challenges which are facing them at the present stage.  

Among the most important houses of worship which were systematically destroyed by ISIS are the Churches of Sergus and Bakhadis in Tabqa, the Church of the Annunciation of the Syriac, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher of the Catholic, the Church of Virgin Mary in Tal Tamer and other churches, in addition to a number of mosques such as Tal Marouf mosque in Qamishli and Sheikh Aqeel mosque in Manbij which is considered as one of the historical mosques in the city, as well as the destruction of some historical shrines such as the shrine of Aweis al-Qarni in Raqqa, and the shrine of the Prophet Ibrahim Khalil in Tal Abyad/Gire Spi.

  

It is worth mentioning that the Turkish army and the “Olive Branch” groups have destroyed several Yazidi shrines in Afrin such as the shrine of Sheikh Hamid, the shrine of Parsa Khatoun, the shrine of Malek Adi and the shrine of Sheikh Gharib, in addition to the destruction and looting of the historical monuments in the Kurdish region.