The White House on Wednesday condemned attacks by Islamic State terrorists on Assyrian Christian villages in northeastern Syria, even noting the specific religious targeting.
A week after Obama administration officials were accused of downplaying the religion of Christian Egyptians beheaded by the Islamic State, also known by the acronyms ISIL and ISIS, National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan called the attacks in Syria “the latest round of atrocities perpetrated by ISIL against the innocent people of the region.”
Ms. Meehan’s statement said the U.S. “strongly condemns ISIL’s recent attacks on Assyrian Christian villages in northeastern Syria.”
The terrorist group in recent days has burned homes and churches in about 10 villages in Syria, abducting large numbers of Syrian Christian civilians and forcing thousands of others to flee their homes.
Ms. Meehan said the attacks “marked the latest tragedy to strike the region’s long-persecuted Assyrian community, which has been unable to shield itself from the region’s sectarian violence as its ancestral homeland across Syria and Iraq is pillaged.”
“The international community stands united and undeterred in its resolve to bring an end to ISIL’s depravity,” she said.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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