ASIA/SYRIA - Minorities and civilian victims of armed Salafist
gangs: No to "religious war"  Kusayr (Agenzia Fides) - In
Kusayr, a large village near Homs, on the border with Lebanon
the ethnic minorities and religious such as Alawites,
Christians, Shiites have been subjected to violence and
atrocities perpetrated by armed Sunni groups that have taken
their revenge . This is what Fides sources in the diocese of
Homs report. The Christian family Kasouha lost many of its
members, killed cold bloodedly. Killings and kidnappings are
carried out in retaliation on behalf of militant Sunni
Islamists, who had ancient disputes and who now present
themselves as "factions of resistance". These gangs "are trying
to resurrect the old intra-community clashes or to bring a
sectarian war against the minorities who do not join the
opposition", explains a Fides source. The Christian population
of Kusayr, after several massacres and attacks, fled. Christian
buildings were destroyed or burned after being looted. The house
of the