A/HRC/25/65 (ii) Non-State armed groups 117. There was a dramatic increase in attacks on religious personnel and buildings by non-State armed groups. Such attacks directly threaten freedom of religion. 118. On 28 July, Father Dall’Oglio was abducted in Ar Raqqah city by ISIS;his fate remains unknown. On 4 August, an Alawite Imam was executed during an attack on villages in eastern Latakia. On 2 December, nuns were moved from the Martar Monastery and Church in Maaloula to Yabroud by an armed group. While this move appeared initially intended to remove them from the area of active fighting, the nuns remain in Yabroud with conditions imposed for their release. The Syriac Orthodox and Greek Orthodox Archbishops, Yohanna Ibrahim and Paul Yazigi, remain detained following their abduction in Aleppo in April. 119. On 4 September, armed groups clashed with government forces in Maaloula (Damascus). Churches were looted and destroyed. The historic churches of Mar Sarkia and Barhos were used as bases for military operations. In October, ISIS damaged the Church of Saidat Al-Bishara in Ar Raqqah and established their headquarters there. During the attack from 21 to 28 October on Sadad (Homs), armed groups desecrated Christian churches. On 16 and 17 November, during fighting in Qara (Damascus), the Mar Michael church was damaged. As government forces retook Qara, armed groups positioned weaponry near Christian churches. 120. Armed groups wilfully damaged and destroyed property of great significance to the cultural heritage of the Syrian Arab Republic, in contravention of international humanitarian law. 121. During an attack on Tal Hasel and Tal Aran (Aleppo) on 28 and 29 July, ISISaffiliated armed groups positioned snipers in mosque minarets, exposing the building to lawful attack. (d) Journalists 122. In 2013, 28 journalists were killed in the Syrian Arab Republic, making it the world’s deadliest country for media workers. (i) Non-State armed groups 123. Journalists in Aleppo and Ar Raqqah governorates received direct threats to their safety from ISIS. 124. On 4 December, Yasser Al-Jumaili, a veteran freelance cameraman from Iraq was executed in Idlib. In his last conversation with Al Jazeera, he stated he was being held by ISIS. 125. On 31 December 2012, a foreign reporter was held by Jabhat Al-Nusra and other armed groups in Aleppo. He was ill-treated in various clandestine detention centres until he managed to escape in late July 2013. On 8 April, two foreign journalists were detained in Al Qusayr (Homs) by a group affiliated to the Al-Farouk Brigade and repeatedly tortured until their release in September. On 24 July, ISIS fighters attacked a media centre in Saraqib (Idlib), assaulting its staff and kidnapping a foreign journalist, who reportedly escaped in October and left the country. 126. In continued attacks on journalists, armed groups, notably ISIS, violated international humanitarian law. Such attacks also constitute a direct threat to the right of freedom of expression. 18