Syrian rebel forces fighting government troops have trapped more 12,000 Greek Catholics in a village near the Lebanese border, causing shortages of food, medicine and other urgent supplies, the Catholic News Agency reported.
For more than 10 days the village of Rableh in the area of Homs has suffered under a strict blockade from armed opposition forces that have surrounded it, Fides news agency said. Snipers have killed at least three men, including a married father of four.
Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gergorios III Laham has appealed for an end to fighting and to ensure that “Rableh is saved and all other villages affected in Syria.” He has asked “for peace to be reached in our beloved country.”
Archbishop Mario Zenari, the apostolic nuncio to Syria, has asked both sides of the conflict to adhere to “the strict observance of the international humanitarian law.” The destruction of bridges, the cutting of power lines and road obstacles have cut off the village from food and other basic necessities, the charity reports.
(Source: CNA)
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