The recent murders of Alawite civilians in Syria's coastal region has caused concern among the country's other religious minorities too.

On March 6, loyalists who support Syria's ousted President Bashar Assad attacked security forces belonging to the new, interrim government. The resulting violence, which saw more security forces and armed civilians rushing to the coast, resulted in unwarranted attacks on members of the Alawite minority. Scores of civilians were killed.

While Christians were not openly targeted in the violence, false reports and the inability of the new government to intervene to protect communities have been fueling local Christians' fears ever since.

Before the Syrian civil war, which went from 2011 to December 2024, Christians made up around 10% of the Syrian population. After 14 years of war, there is no official data on how many still live in the country today.

There are more than 11 different denominations. The Greek Orthodox and Melkite Greek Catholic churches are among the largest. The latter has connections to the Vatican in Rome. However there is also a smaller Protestant church, whose members numbered around 300,000 before 2011.

Since the overthrow of Assad on........

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