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A church bombing leads Syria's Christians to consider leaving as foreign fighters remain
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FILE - Blood stains a religious icon of the Virgin Mary and child inside the Mar Elias Greek Orthodox Church in Dweil'a on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, June 23, 2025, during a memorial service, a day after a suicide bombing. - photo by AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki, File
DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The day after last month's deadly suicide attack on a church outside Syria's capital, hundreds of Christians marched in Damascus chanting against foreign fighters and calling for them to leave the country. The June 22 attack on the Mar Elias church, killing at least 25 people and wounding dozens, was the latest alarm for religious minorities who say they have suffered one blow after another since President Bashar Assad was removed from power in December. Muslim militant groups led by the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which is headed by Syria’s interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa, now control much of the country.