Islamic forces in Syria have killed a relative of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who had been commanding troops protecting a Christian city.

A coalition of Islamic extremist groups overran the defenses of the Christian town of Kassat, killing Christians they found in their path and chanting & praising Allah as they took control of the town.

A student from the town that is now living in the United Arab Emirates told the Wall Street Journal that most of the Christians have fled to a church in the nearby village of Latakia.

“They receive food from the Armenians that are living there,” the unnamed student told the WSJ.

Islamic extremists in Syria have been attempting to exterminate the Christian population in Syria during the civil war.  Christians had made up 8 percent of Syria’s population before the Civil War began.