MAALOULA, Syria (AP) — Its historic churches pillaged by jihadis and buildings riddled with shrapnel, this ancient Christian town north of Damascus still bears the scars of the fierce fighting that devastated it two years ago. The government recaptured it from militants in early 2014 in an important propaganda victory for President Bashar Assad's government in its quest to be seen as protector of religious minorities. At St. Takla Convent, a Greek Orthodox monastery that dates back to the early centuries of Christianity, the dome and walls of the church were gutted by fire, its frescoes damaged by bullets and its windows broken.
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