Release of Syrian Nuns Was Part of a Hostage Swap

The New York Times reports that the weekend release of 13 Syrian nuns confirms “what Syrian officials have long denied: that the government has been holding women and children prisoner, including relatives of suspected opposition fighters.”

Images and video reportedly shot Sunday and early Monday by opposition activist Hadi Abdullah “appear to show rebel fighters releasing a group of nuns they had held for more than three months in exchange for a group of women and at least two children, whom a fighter embraces and identifies as his own.”

Meanwhile, the Christian Science Monitor says the incident further concerns Syrian Christians, who fear widespread persecution. (An AP list of missing Syrians includes several prominent Christians.)

“Syria’s Christians, one of numerous minorities that had enjoyed relative protection under the Assad regime, are increasingly concerned that they could face persecution on the scale of Christians in Iraq,” it reports.

“Syria’s Christians represented an estimated 5 to 8 percent of the country’s 22 million people before the war broke out, and the Syrian patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church recently suggested that as many as 450,000 of the 2 million Syrian refugees today are Christians.”

Rebel Recounts Time in ISIS Jail

Al Jazeera interviews Free Syrian Army Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad al-Saouda, who says he was held in a prison run by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. ISIS has been criticized for its brutal policing tactics since it began consolidating its power in Syria last spring.

Al-Saoud tells the network that he “was kept in a room with 12 others, interrogated regularly and provided with only one meal – soup – a day. Still, he was treated comparatively well. Other detainees were brutally tortured, he says – hung from the walls and repeatedly electrocuted on the hands, feet and torso.

“In December, ISIS overran a Division 13 base in Kafr Nabl and seized a stockpile of weapons. Saoud arranged to meet with an intermediary the following day in Taftanaz to try to negotiate for their return. He ran into an ISIS ambush on his way to the rendezvous. The fighters there fired a warning salvo and Saoud, who was only accompanied by two of his security detail, knew he was outgunned. ‘They were lying in wait, then fired everything, and there were far too many of them,’ he says.”

Hezbollah Has Lost Nearly 500 Fighters in Syria

The Daily Star reports that “deaths among Hezbollah fighters battling rebels in Syria have increased significantly in March, as the party fights alongside the Syrian army in its struggle to capture the rebel-held town of Yabroud in the Qalamoun Mountains.

“Hezbollah announced that 15 of its fighters died in March, saying they fell while carrying out their ‘jihadist duty.’ Funerals were held in various areas across Lebanon including the Bekaa Valley, the Beirut southern suburbs and south Lebanon,” the Star reports, also quoting a Hezbollah source as saying it has lost nearly 500 of its own fighters during the conflict.

Meanwhile, the New York Times reports that Israel is concerned about the military experience the group is gaining in Syria.

“Hezbollah is also acquiring battlefield experience, and the only way for Mr. Assad, a longtime Hezbollah ally, to repay the group is by supplying it with sophisticated weapons, according to Israeli military officials and experts – strengths that could eventually be used against Israel,” writes Isabel Kershner.

“Hezbollah has 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers today in Syria,” a senior Israeli military officer told reporters last week at a Tel Aviv army headquarters. “This is a major burden for Hezbollah but also a major advantage. I have no doubt that Hezbollah gained much more self-confidence because of the Syrian experience.”

Suggested Reads from Our Editorial Team

Reuters: Syria Among ‘Most Dangerous Places on Earth’ for Children: UNICEF

The Washington Post: The U.S. Needs to Get More Aggressive on Syria

Daily Star: Army Braves for Wave of Nusra Front Attacks

Reuters Insight: Al Qaeda Hijacks Spirit of Syria Revolt Three Years On