Day 1,125: What a monastery looks like after becoming a battleground

GlobalPost

Today is Day 1,125 of the Syria conflict. Today, the UN Security Council is meeting privately to view slides of Syrian corpses showing signs of torture. A few of these images were published by The Guardian in January as part of the so-called "Caesar Report," compiled by three international lawyers from images smuggled out of Syria by the defector known as "Caesar."

Photos from the Syrian government's recent victory in the Qalamun region, mentioned yesterday, are now available through AFP and Getty. The photo above shows government forces celebrating after taking control of the village of al-Sarkha yesterday morning.

Government forces then proceeded to take the ancient Christian town of Maalula later that day. Maalula and al-Sarkha are the last remaining bastions of the Western Aramanic language. Maalula is home to many religious sites, including the Mar Sarkis Greek Catholic monastery, whose oldest structures date from the 5th to 6th centuries. A photo below shows the damage to the Mar Sarkis monastery which a journalist working with AFP was able to photograph upon entering the Maalula after government forces had taken it. AFP says the monastery's walls had been "pierced" by mortar rounds.


Damage inside the Mar Sarkis Greek Catholic monastery in the ancient Christian town of Maalula, northeast of Damascus, after government forces took control of the town from rebel fighters. (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)


The view of Maalula from above. (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)


A member of the government forces stands guard overlooking the ancient Christian town of Maalula, northeast of Damascus, after they took control of the town from rebel fighters. (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)

In other news, Syria's Foreign Minister has written to the UN taking roughly Seymour Hersh's line on the chemical attacks last year. He even appears to make a veiled reference to Hersh: "Reports, studies and documented researches abound as to the involvement of the US, Turkey and several other countries, whether directly or indirectly, in these appalling carnages in Syria, including Khan al-Assal on March 15, 2013." The letter, however, also threw in Israel, France, Saudi Arabia, and unnamed terrorists into the mix. (Background on Hersh's theories here.)

Unrelatedly, here's a video of Syrian rebels using what analysts say appear to be US-made anti-tank rockets. They are not expected to be all that useful, but it's evidence that the US definitely is arming the rebels, although possibly through a third party.

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