Syria’s Valley of the Christians Burns as Jihadi President Hobnobs at U.N.

Residents of Wadi al-Nasara, Syria, a region whose name translates to the “Valley of the Christians,” have denounced insufficient support from the newly installed Islamist government amid a wave of punishing forest fires that some local officials have blamed on “suspected arson.”

Harrowing videos from the region show sweeping fires threatening critical agricultural sites and longstanding Christian communities. Church bells can be heard clanging as ash and fire covers residential areas.

Wadi al-Nasara — in Homs, one of the regions most devastated by the Syrian Civil War that ended in December after 14 years – is located under the purview of the “Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES),” one of several attempts at government formed during the war to combat the chaos. While the main combat in that war occurred between the defunct dictatorship of Bashar Assad and various Sunni rebel factions, at the height of the war, as many as ten different militias, state actors, and others were waging war against each other in the country, leaving municipal power vacuums often exploited by jihadists. Following Assad’s abandonment of the country and flight to Moscow in December, the AANES has continued to operate in the region and is in the process of recalibrating its role in the context of the new government.

Assad was toppled by a jihadist terror organization, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), established as an offshoot of al-Qaeda. The head of HTS, Ahmed al-Sharaa, is now the president of Syria and is currently in New York attending events related to the U.N. General Assembly. He has vowed to establish Islamist rule in the country but is encouraging foreign powers, including the United States, to invest financially in reconstruction and promising to protect Syria’s religious and ethnic minorities, including Christians. Many Christian groups in Syria and abroad have warned that a jihadist-led government is a direct threat to Christians, whom Assad had largely allowed to worship safely so long as they did not question him politically. After an eruption of violence against Alawite Shia Muslims in the country in March, Christians reported that jihadists allied with HTS were threatening to slaughter Christians, as well.

The AANES issued a statement on Thursday calling for those living in Wadi al-Nasara to help the administration “strengthen fire-prevention measures amid increasing reports of suspected arson in the area,” according to the regional North Press Agency. The local authorities referred to the fires as a “serious existential threat to the environment and biodiversity in the region.”

The fires have been raging for much of the week. On Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that alarmed residents are demanding the government in Damascus intervene to stop the fires, outraged that they have been forced to resort to limited use of water to reduce the spread with little support.

“Residents called for immediate intervention by the relevant authorities, particularly through the use of aircraft to extinguish the blaze before it reaches more homes due to the rapid spread of the fires,” SOHR reported. “They also appealed to all water-truck owners to head to the area and help put out the fires.”

Syriac Press, an English-language outlet covering the region, reported that the outcry from locals was growing as they did not feel Sharaa’s government was acting with sufficient urgency.

“We are fighting with buckets and tractors while the sky stays empty,” one desperate resident said.

Much of the local firefighting effort is reportedly in the hands of volunteer forces.

“They say air assets — fixed-wing water bombers or helicopters capable of repeated water drops — and heavy earthmoving machinery to carve fire breaks are essential in the steep, forested zones where ground crews cannot safely advance,” Syriac Press shared. “Without rapid reinforcement, residents fear the fires will move into more densely populated valleys and wipe out orchards and remaining forest cover.”

The earlier reports this week did not indicate any evidence of arson; Thursday’s warning from the AANES is the first major such warning in relation to the situation. Middle Eastern outlets reported previously that rumors and alarm on the internet blaming the fires on intentional blazes formed by jihadists had yet to be corroborated firmly.

President Sharaa has spent the week engaging in meetings with Western leaders in New York. On Wednesday, he delivered his speech to the United Nations General Assembly requesting that the world lift Assad-era sanctions on his country and fund his government in its postwar reconstruction efforts.

“From the very moment the former regime fell, we set out a clear strategic policy built upon three pillars: balanced diplomacy, security stability, and economic development,” he claimed. “We filled the power vacuum, called for an inclusive national dialogue, and announced a government of competence. We strengthened the principle of participation and established a National Commission for Transitional Justice and another for the missing, ensuring justice and fairness for those wronged.”

“We call now for the complete lifting of these sanctions, so they no longer shackle the Syrian people or strip them once again of their freedom,” Sharaa continued in his brief speech. “Investment laws have been amended, and major regional and international companies have already begun entering the Syrian market, contributing through investment and reconstruction. Today, Syria is rebuilding itself through establishing a new state, building institutions and laws that guarantee the rights of all without exception.”

Sharaa has so far met with American President Donald Trump — his second in-person meeting since seizing power — Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He has made it a point to appear in photos alongside women in Western garb, not wearing hijabs, as an indication of moderation.

Sharaa’s government passed an explicitly Islamist “temporary” constitution over the country in March and Sharaa himself has defending Islamic governance even for non-Muslims.

“People who fear Islamic governance either have seen incorrect implementations of it or do not understand it properly,” he told CNN in an interview published on December 6, when he still used his al-Qaeda name “Abu Mohammed al-Jolani” and Assad still ruled Syria. Assad fled to Moscow the next day.

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