In March 2011, popular discontent with the government of Bashar al-Assad led to large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, echoing the Arab Spring protests taking place in other countries.

Assad ordered a harsh response by the military, causing thousands of deaths and detentions. Soon, a full-scale civil war erupted. Since the war began, around 600,000 people have been killed - over half of them civilians - and 13.5 million have been displaced, half of these are refugees that fled the country.

CAFOD, the international aid agency of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, says the Syrian people have suffered so much since the beginning of the conflict 13 years ago.

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Also on Wednesday, it was reported Israeli airstrikes hit Damascus. On the same day, in the southern Syrian city of Sweida, security forces opened fire at protesters angry over the country's worsening economy as they tried to break into the offices of President Bashar Assad's ruling Baath Party.

A 52-year-old man was shot in the chest and later died of his wounds.

There was no immediate comment from Ankara on Wednesday's airstrikes. Turkey has been attacking Kurdish fighters in Syria for years, but attacks on the fighters from the country's Christian minority have been rare.

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The organisation says the recent earthquakes have only added to the complex layers of suffering for the Syrian people and many children are now more vulnerable to exploitation and abuse.

World Vision's Syria Response Director, Johan Mooij, says the level of suffering experienced in the Middle Eastern nation is almost unimaginable.

"On this twelfth anniversary of war in Syria, we're calling on the international community to recognise the immense suffering and devastation this country has experienced and to act to support the people of Syria who have faced far too much for far too long.

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It was the newly-built Hagia Sophia Church's inaugural celebration.

The weapons landed just 15 meters from where clerics and the congregation were gathered in front of the building.

The attack has been variously attributed to rockets, missiles or armed drones.

The church, which is about 30 miles northwest of Hama, had been built as a replica of Istanbul's Hagia Sophia by Syria's Bashar al-Assad and Russia's Vladimir Putin governments.

It was their response to the Turkish government converting the original Hagia Sophia building into a mosque.

The local Greek Orthodox community would use it as their church. Before the Syrian war, the town had about 20,000 Orthodox Christians.

Syria's state media attributed the attack to "terrorist organisations".

Yohanna X, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch, in a phone call with the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop of Hama, condemned the attack.

"Our children in Suqaylabiyah are paying the price of their faith with blood… What happened in Suqaylabiyah is a despicable and reprehensible act of terrorism," he said.

Rebel Islamic militias are fighting with the government and partly control several provinces.

Source

• CNA
• La Croix