Syrian troops retake town
Christian residents had been abducted, monastery razed
Qaryatain, Syria — Syrian troops fired their guns in celebration amid smoldering buildings inside the town of Qaryatain on Monday, hours after recapturing it from retreating Islamic State militants who had abducted and terrorized dozens of its Christian residents.
An Associated Press crew was among the first journalists to enter the town and witnessed the destruction wrought on the once-thriving Christian community and its fifth-century monastery, which was bulldozed by the extremist group last summer.
Once a cherished pilgrimage site, much of the St. Elian monastery had been reduced to a pile of stones.
Escorted by the Syrian government, the AP crew was allowed to venture only about 1 1⁄2 miles inside Qaryatain, located 75 miles northeast of Damascus, because army experts were still clearing explosives and mines left by the group.
Black smoke billowed from the western side of town where skirmishes continued. Near the central square, some residential and government buildings were completely destroyed, their top floors flattened. Others had gaping holes where they had taken direct artillery hits or were pockmarked by gunfire. Electricity poles and cables were broken and shredded; a snapped tree hung to one side.
On Sunday, a week after taking back the historic town of Palmyra from the Islamic State group, Syrian troops and their allies recaptured Qaryatain. Aided by Russian airstrikes, the advance dealt yet another setback to the Islamic State, depriving the extremists of a main base in central Syria that could eventually be used by government forces to launch attacks on Islamic State-held areas near the Iraqi border.
Soldiers were visibly buoyed Monday by their successive battlefield victories.
“We will soon liberate all of Syria from the mercenaries of the Gulf and Erdogan,” said one soldier, referring to Gulf countries and the Turkish leader who have been strong supporters of the rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.
Qaryatain lies midway between Palmyra and the capital, Damascus, and was once home to a sizeable Christian population. Before the Islamic State took it over last August, it had a mixed population of around 40,000 Sunni Muslims and Christians, as well as thousands of internally displaced people who had fled from the nearby city of Homs.
As it came under militant attack, many of the Christians fled. More than 200 residents, mostly Christians, were abducted by the extremists, including a Syrian priest, the Rev. Jack Murad, who was held by the extremists for three months.