'Militancy spares no religion', says Ignatius Aphrem-II

The Supreme Head of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church, Ignatius Aphrem-II, has urged nations to unite against militancy, saying that its victims were not members of a particular religion.

Ignatius Aphrem-II expressed his concerns over the brutal killings by the Islamic State (ISIS) and the repeated attacks on churches in the national capital.

"This prosecution, these killings are not only against Christians. The ISIS is not only targeting Christians, they are targeting Muslims also. They are destroying mosques and churches. They are killing imams and sheikhs and they are kidnapping our bishops. Two of our bishops in Aleppo have been in captivity since April 2, 2013, we do not know much about them. They are not targeting just Christians, they are targeting all people who do not agree with them," the visiting leader told mediapersons.

Ignatius Aphrem-II was reacting to the video released by the ISIS on February 15, which shows the terror organisation beheading 21 Egyptian Christians.

Currently on an 11-day visit of India, Ignatius Aphrem-II met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Sonia Gandhi and discussed the series of attacks on churches.

"They all affirmed that what happened during the last few weeks and months to Christians churches is not the way India behaves, it's not an Indian way of treating the people in this beloved country and I believe the same: that this is foreign to India," he said.

Since December, six separate churches in the capital have reported incidents of arson, vandalism and burglary. Earlier this month, priests, nuns and parishioners clashed with police as they staged a protest over the vandalism and arson attacks on the churches.