Syria: Hundreds protest over Christmas tree burning — report

Protesters numbering in the hundreds have taken to the streets in Christian areas of Damascus after the burning of a Christmas tree near Hama in central Syria, according to a report from AFP news agency.

The protests erupted after a video spread on social media showing hooded fighters setting fire to a Christmas tree in the Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah, near Hama.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighters were foreigners from the Islamist group Ansar al-Tawhid.

It comes a little over two weeks since the toppling of Bashar Assad and just days after interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly called Abu Mohammed al-Golani, moved to assure minority groups that they would be protected amid fears that strict Islamic governance would be imposed.

"If we're not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don't belong here anymore," a demonstrator named Georges told AFP.

Another video circulating on social media showed a religious leader from the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) addressing residents and saying that those who set the tree alight were "not Syrians" and that they would be punished.

"The tree will be restored and lit up by tomorrow morning", he said.

Syria has numerous minority groups including Druze, Kurds, Christians.

Turkey says over 25,000 Syrian refugees have gone home

Meanwhile, Turkish officials on Tuesday reported that more than 25,000 Syrians had returned home since Assad's overthrow.

"The number of people returning to Syria in the last 15 days has exceeded 25,000," Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya told the Turkeys Anadolu news agency.

Turkey has been home to nearly three million refugees who fled the civil war in 2011.

Yerlikaya said a migration office would be established in the Turkish embassy and consulate in Damascus and Aleppo so records of returning Syrians could be kept.

US carries out airstrike in Syria, killing two IS operatives

Additionally, the US military said it conducted an airstrike in Syria that killed two "Islamic State" operatives and wounded one.

Operatives from the terror group were moving a truckload of weapons in Dayr az Zawr province in eastern Syria when they were targeted with the airstrike, the US Central Command said in a post on X on Monday. 

kb/rm (AFP, Reuters)