Comment of the Departament of Information and Press of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia regarding the situation in the Syrian town Maaloula

According to recent information, on September 5 illegal armed groups of Syrian opposition attempted to occupy the town of Maaloula, situated 40 miles North-East from Damascus and populated mainly by Christians. The Government forces repeled this attack, but the militants, connected to Jabhat Al-Nusra and Al-Quaeda, managed to consolidate on tops of the surrounding heights and continue to rack the town with fire.
Moscow is deeply concerned by the fact that terroristic actions have affected the symbol of the Christian presence in this country – Maaloula. We would like to recall that its inhabitants speak the almost extinct Aramaic language, in which Jesus Christ used to preach, and the cathedrals situated in this town are some of the most ancient and worshiped in the Christian world.
We call upon everyone, who is not indifferent to the destiny of the population of Maaloula, to do everything possible to prevent massacre and demolition of the Christian shrines.
It is essential to put an immediate end to terrorist attacks. Special responsibility for this rests upon those forces in the region and beyond, who willingly or unwillingly uphold terrorist activity. By drawing international attention to the acute situation in Maaloula, Russia advocates the Christians and all those ethnical minorities, who have been part of Syrian society for centuries and whose rights and interests must be respected and fulfilled.