Syria's Christians beg to leave embattled Homs

"Let us go, in God's name!" was the desperate appeal of a Christian source within Syria who spoke with the FIDES news service concerning the fate of Syria's Christians and Sunni Muslims trapped in Homs. According to the source, "We are talking about 800 civilians, including women, elderly, youth, children, disabled people who today are in real danger. They have nothing, they live in panic, they are in the midst of bombing and fighting. "

"The families blocked in the city," said the source, who is asking for assistance from the UN, Red Cross, and Red Crescent, and that their lives be spared. The families are located in areas of Warsheh, Salibi, Bustan Diwan, Ozon, Hamidiyeh, Wadi Sayeh, all in the heart of Homs.

According to FIDES, the Syrian army is amenable to a cease-fire to enable the release of the civilians, but a faction of rebels holed up in the city and headed by Abu Maan, refuses to consent. The insurgents appear to fear that, once the civilians are safely conveyed outside, the Syrian army can redouble its offensive on the city center. The situation is in stalemate, even while the condition of families worsens by the hour. The approximately 400 Christians are the last remaining of the more than 80,000 who lived in Homs before the conflict.