The religious cleansing was the motive all along — with forced conversions and an effort to empty Maaloula of its Christian population.
The Maaloula survivors, speaking out for the first time, said that the Free Syria Army troops were as one with the al-Nusra warriors. They described in heartbreaking detail how Maaloula’s townspeople were terrorized and some killed for being Christian.Video: Maaloula was religious cleansing, not a military target