Three weeks after dozens of Christians died in a church bombing in Damascus, another church in Syria has narrowly escaped a similar attack. On Sunday 13 July, three people were arrested after being discovered with explosives close to a church in Al-Kharibat village, near Tartus in the west of Syria.

Discovered with explosives and extremist material

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reports that, when security forces discovered the suspects, they found nearly 20 kilograms of explosives -- alongside leaflets, slogans and symbols indicating extremist backgrounds.

"The people saw something suspicious and informed the security forces," a local source told Open Doors partners in Syria. "They chased them and found them with a lot of explosives and leaflets." The source added that the suspects are being held in custody, but the community is terrified of future attacks.

Please join in praising God that the attack was thwarted and no lives were lost, and praying for local believers who are understandably very fearful of future attack.

Violence in southern Syria

This latest threat comes in the context of escalating tensions across Syria. As well as the recent attack in Damascus, there is ongoing violence in other regions. For instance in Suwayda, about a hundred kilometres south of Damascus, Christians are shocked by the latest eruption of violence. Last weekend (12-13 July), dozens of people belonging to the Druze and Bedouin communities were killed.

Church services in Suwayda and the surrounding villages were cancelled, because of the dangerous situation. "We, as Christians, stayed in our houses," shares one local believer.

Several Christian families were displaced from their villages -- in one, Al-Sawara, the church was damaged on the inside and the homes of some Christians were burned. About 60 believers are finding refuge in a nearby village's church hall.

"These are impossibly hard days"

"We're scared, truly scared," one of the church leaders in Suwayda told Open Doors local partners. "All we can do is wait here in our homes and pray. It's completely out of control. Tanks, drones -- I had to cancel mass yesterday, because of the curfew. They're everywhere, the parish is terrified. These are impossibly hard days. We just pray for our lives, for peace. We're beyond tired."

The violent clashes between Bedouin tribes and members of the Druze community started after a recent robbery last week of a business man on the road from Damascus to Suwayda, followed by several other kidnappings and robberies. While this violence is not seen as targeted persecution against Christians, the damage done to churches and Christian homes show the particular vulnerability of believers in these conflict situations.