The Syriac Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Christian jurisdiction originating in the Levant that uses the West Syriac Rite liturgy and has many practices and rites in common with the Syriac Orthodox Church. Being one of the twenty-three Eastern Catholic Churches, the Syriac Catholic Church is a self-governed sui iuris particular church, while it is in full communion with the Holy See and with the entirety of the Roman Catholic Church.
Ali Moussa Al-Shawakh, known by his kunya Abu Luqman, Abu Ayyub al-Ansari or Ali al-Hamoud, was a Syrian man and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant governor of Raqqa, Syria as of July 2015. He used to be governor of Aleppo province.
Deir ez-Zor is the largest city in eastern Syria and the seventh largest in the country. Located on the banks of the Euphrates River 450 km (280 mi) to the northeast of the capital Damascus, Deir ez-Zor is the capital of the Deir ez-Zor Governorate. In the 2018 census, it had a population of 271,800.
Mar Emmanuel III Delly was the Patriarch Emeritus of Babylon of the Chaldeans and former Primate of the Chaldean Catholic Church, an Eastern Catholic sui juris particular church of the Catholic Church, and also a cardinal. He was born in Tel Keppe and was ordained a priest on 21 December 1952. He was consecrated a bishop in December 1962 at the age of 35. He was elected Patriarch of the Chaldean Church on 3 December 2003, succeeding the late Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid. He was created cardinal on 24 November 2007.
Assyrians in Syria also known as Syriacs are an ethnic and linguistic minority that are indigenous to Upper Mesopotamia, the north-eastern half of Syria. Syrian-Assyrians are people of Assyrian descent living in Syria, and those in the Assyrian diaspora who are of Syrian-Assyrian heritage.
The Pontifical Oriental Institute, also known as the Orientale, is a Catholic institution of higher education located in Rome and focusing on Eastern Christianity.
Deir Mar Musa al-Habashi, literally, the Monastery of Saint Moses the Abyssinian, is a monastic community of the Syriac Catholic Church located near the town of Nabk, Syria, approximately 80 km (50 mi) north of Damascus, on the eastern slopes of the Anti-Lebanon Mountains. The main church of the monastic compound hosts precious frescoes dating to the 11th and 12th century.
Raqqa Governorate is one of the fourteen governorates of Syria. It is situated in the north of the country and covers an area of 19,618 km2. The capital is Raqqa. The Islamic State of Iraq and Levant claimed full control of this province as of August 24, 2014 when its fighters captured Tabqa Airbase in the southwest part of the province. However, the Syrian Democratic Forces now control much of the province; all of the area north of the Euphrates River including the provincial capital of Raqqa and the city of al-Thawrah are under SDF control, with the government holding the southern part of the governorate after a successful offensive was launched with the aid of Liwa al-Quds, tribal militias and Russian air support, which resulted in the recapture of the city of Resafa, and the capture of many oil fields in Ar-Raqqah province, including various oil and gas stations.
Arabs represent the major ethnicity in Syria, in addition to the presence of several, much smaller ethnic groups.
Monastery of the Martyrs Mar Behnam and Marth Sarah, is a Syriac Catholic monastery in northern Iraq in the village Khidr Ilyas close to the town of Beth Khdeda. The tomb of Mar Benham was heavily damaged on March 19, 2015, by the Islamic State, and the exterior murals were desecrated in all of the monastery's buildings. Repair work restoring the monastery and the tomb of Mar Behnam to its pre-ISIS condition was completed by early December 2018.
The battle of Raqqa, also known as the first battle of Raqqa and code named by rebels as the "Raid of the Almighty", was fought for control of the northern Syrian city of Raqqa during the Syrian civil war between Sunni Islamist rebel insurgents and the Syrian Arab Army. Rebel forces launched the offensive in early March 2013, and declared themselves in "near-total control" on 5 March, making it the first provincial capital claimed to come under rebel control in the civil war. The battle, on the opposition side, was primarily led by the al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham.
The Syriac Military Council is an Assyrian/Syriac military organisation in Syria, part of the Syrian Democratic Forces. The establishment of the organisation was announced on 8 January 2013. According to the Syriac Military Council, the goal of the organisation is to stand up for the national rights of and to protect Assyrians in Syria. It operates mostly in the densely populated Assyrian areas of Al-Hasakah Governorate, and is affiliated to the Syriac Union Party.
The Ahfad al-Rasul Brigades was a Syrian rebel group fighting against the Syrian government in the Syrian Civil War. It was funded by the Qatari government.
The Supreme Military Council (SMC) was the highest military leadership of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) from late 2012 to at least mid-2014. The establishment of the organisation was announced on 7 December 2012 with the backing of western and Arab powers as a means of financing and arming Syrian rebel forces.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is a Kurdish-led coalition formed by ethnic militias and rebel groups, and serves as the official military wing of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). The SDF is allied to and supplied by the United States–led CJTF–OIR international alliance. Founded in 10 October 2015, the SDF claims that its mission is fighting to create a secular, democratic and federalised Syria. The SDF is opposed by Turkey, who claims the group has direct links to the PKK, which it recognizes as a terrorist group.
The Raqqa campaign (2012–2013) was a series of battles and offensives launched by various Syrian rebel groups, led by Ahrar al-Sham and the al-Nusra Front, against Syrian government forces in the Raqqa Governorate as part of the Syrian Civil War. The campaign was launched at the second half of 2012 and ended in the capture of the city of Raqqa as well as dozens of smaller towns and facilities.
The Eastern Syria insurgency is an armed insurgency being waged by remnants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and both pro and anti-Syrian government Arab nationalist insurgents, against the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), its military, and their allies in the US-led Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF–OIR) coalition.
Lorenzo Orsetti, also known as Orso and Tekoşer Piling, was an Italian anarcho-communist and antifascist from Florence who fought with the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Rojava conflict.
Ali Aswad al-Jiburi, better known by his nom de guerre as Abu Ayman al-Iraqi, was an ISIL commander and Shura council member killed on 18 May 2016 by an airstrike in northern Iraq.
Souad Nawfal is a Syrian Muslim schoolteacher and activist who became known for her protests against Bashar al-Assad and the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria. She received the Homo Homini Award, a human rights award, in 2014.
