Festive lights, security tight for Christmas in Damascus

Christmas lights illuminate Damascus’s Old City while government forces patrol its shadows as security fears haunt Syria’s Christian community.

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Syrians stroll through a market ahead of Christmas festivities in Damascus on December 22, 2025. — AFP

(AFP)

They recall the shooting and suicide attack in June at the Saint Elias church in the Syrian capital that killed 25 people and wounded dozens more.

“People are going home early, and are afraid,” said Tala Shamoun, 26, a university student who was visiting a Christmas market with family and friends.

Damascus has seen crime including robberies and kidnappings, but the attack on the church “was the biggest tragedy”, she said.

Syria’s authorities blamed the Daesh group, while a little-known militant group claimed responsibility.

The Islamists that ousted ruler Bashar Al Assad last year have reaffirmed their commitment to coexistence among all of Syria’s religious groups, vowing to involve everyone in the transition.

But earlier this year, the country’s Alawite heartland saw sectarian massacres, while Druze-majority areas in the south were hit by major clashes.

Interior ministry forces searched some pedestrians or stopped people on motorbikes in the Old City.