Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in Christian areas of Damascus early on Tuesday to protest against the burning of a Christmas tree near Hama in central Syria.
The protests erupted after a video spread on social media showing hooded fighters setting fire to the tree in the Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah.
A leader from HTS, the leading rebel group in the coalition that toppled Bashar Al Assad, claimed that those who set the tree on fire were "not Syrian" and promised they would be punished. He added that the men were foreigners from the group Ansar Al Tawhid.
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