Syrian Christians attended Christmas Eve services on Tuesday for the first time since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad in early December, in an early test of the new Islamist rulers' pledges to protect the rights of the country's religious minorities.

Syrian Christians attended Christmas Eve services on Tuesday for the first time since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. The now ruling Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, HTS, in Syria had after overthrowing Assad pledged to protect the rights of the country’s religious minorities.