Mainly between March 16, 1977 and March 30, 1977 (with other attacks occurring in mid-August) a series of massacres on Christian civilians took place in the Chouf region during the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

. The massacres were mostly committed by Druze gunmen of the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the principal military force of the People's Republic of China and the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The PLA consists of five service branches: the Ground Force, Navy, Air Force, ...

after the assassination of Druze leader

Kamal Jumblatt Kamal Fouad Jumblatt ( ar, كمال فؤاد جنبلاط; 6 December 1917 – 16 March 1977) was a Lebanese politician who founded the Progressive Socialist Party. He led the National Movement during the civil war against the Lebanese Front. H ...

. Many victims were mutilated and women were reportedly sexually abused.

Background

Long-standing enemies since the 1860s, the

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

have always been at odds with the

Maronites The Maronites ( ar, الموارنة; syr, ܡܖ̈ܘܢܝܐ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group native to the Eastern Mediterranean and Levant region of the Middle East, whose members traditionally belong to the Maronite Church, with the largest ...

, and acts of barbarism on both sides have bedevilled their ability to co-exist for centuries past. On 16 March 1977, the PSP leader

was ambushed and killed in his car near

Baakline Baakleen or Baakline ( ar, بعقلين) is a major Druze town located in Mount Lebanon, Chouf District, 45 kilometers southeast of Beirut. Altitude 850 – 920 meters high, population is 30,000, area 14 square km, number of homes 2,870. Borderi ...

in the Chouf by unidentified gunmen (allegedly, fighters from the pro-Syrian faction of the

Syrian Social Nationalist Party The Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) or is a Syrian nationalist party operating in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. It advocates the establishment of a Greater Syrian nation state spanning the Fertile Crescent, including present- ...

, acting in collusion with the Syrian military commander of the

Mount Lebanon Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at . Geography The Mount Le ...

region, Colonel Ibrahim Houeijy);Rabinovich, ''The War for Lebanon'' (1989), p. 77. believing that the perpetrators were members of the predominately Christian

Phalangist The Kataeb Party ( ar, حزب الكتائب اللبنانية '), also known in English as the Phalanges, is a Christian political party in Lebanon. The party played a major role in the Lebanese Civil War (1975–1990). In decline in the la ...

Kataeb Regulatory Forces The Kataeb Regulatory Forces – KRF ( ar, قوى الكتائب النظامية, translit=Quwwāt al-Katāʾib an-Niẓāmiyyah) or Forces Regulatoires des Kataeb (FRK) in French, were the military wing of the right-wing Lebanese Christian Ka ...

(KRF) or Tigers Militias, PLF militiamen extracted swift retribution on the local Maronite population living in the intermixed towns and villages around

. Despite the hasty dispatch on 17 March of 4,000

Syrian Army " (''Guardians of the Homeland'') , colors = * Service uniform: Khaki, Olive * Combat uniform: Green, Black, Khaki , anniversaries = August 1st , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = 1948 Arab–Israeli War Six ...

troops from the

Arab Deterrent Force The Arab Deterrent Force (ADF; ar, قوات الردع العربية) was an international peacekeeping force created by the Arab League in the extraordinary Riyadh Summit on 17–18 October 1976, attended only by heads of state from Egypt, Kuw ...

(ADF) to keep the peace in the Chouf, it is estimated that about 177–250 Maronite villagers were killed in reprisal actions at the towns of Moukhtara and

Barouk Barouk ( ar, باروك) is a village in the Chouf District of Mount Lebanon Governorate in Lebanon. Barouk is located 52 kilometers southeast of Beirut. Its average elevation is 1000 to 1200 meters above sea level and its total land area consists ...

, and at the villages of

Mazraat el-Chouf Mazraat el-Chouf ( ar, مزرعة الشوف; also spelled Mazra'at al-Shuf) is a municipality in the Chouf District of the Mount Lebanon Governorate in Lebanon. It is located 50 kilometers southeast of Beirut. Its average elevation is 950 meters a ...

Maaser el-Chouf A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more r ...

, Botmeh,

Kfar Nabrakh Kfar Nabrakh ( ar, كفر نبرخ ''Kfar Nabrakh'') is a municipality in the Chouf District of Mount Lebanon Governorate, Lebanon. It is located 50 kilometers southeast of Beirut. Kfarnabrakh total land area consists of 941 hectares. Its average ...

Machghara Machghara ( ar, مشغرة), also spelled Mashghara, is a town in the Beqaa Valley of Lebanon, situated in the Western Beqaa District and south of the Beqaa Governorate. It lies just to the northwest of Sohmor and southwest of Lake Qaraoun, south ...

and

Brih Brih, Breeh ( ar, بريح) is a village in the Chouf District in Mount Lebanon region, Lebanon. Brih is located away from Beirut, the capital of Lebanon. It sits at an altitude of above sea level and has an overall surface area of . The word ...

( St George's Church attack).

Attacks

Mazraat el-Chouf

On March 17, Druze militiamen committed killing sprees in

killing 52 people in the village.

Maaser el-Chouf

In Maaser el-Chouf, 9 people were killed during a funeral and 3 others who were fleeing along with 9 people from a neighboring village called

. As a result 25,000 Christians fled the area, mostly moving to East Beirut.ICTJ Report Lebanon Mapping 2013
/ref>

Brih

On August 21,

leftist gunmen attacked St George's Church during prayers on Sunday with automatic gunfire inside and around the church killing 13 people. The Christian population fled the village. However, current construction projects have taken place to repair abandoned Christian houses with the aim of repopulating the Christian households of

Other attacks

Other killings took place in Barouk (28 killed), Botmeh (9 killed), Kfarnabrakh (6 killed), Fraydis (6 killed), as well as in Baadaran, Shurit, and Ain-Zhalta. Many victims were reported to have been mutilated and women sexually abused.

Aftermath

Between 1975 and 1977, after numerous successive attacks terrorizing the population, around 260,000 Christians (60% of the Christian population in the Chouf) fled their villages mostly moving to Beirut and its surrounding suburbs.{{Cite web , last=ictj , date=2014-07-30 , title=Christians leave the Chouf region , url=https://civilsociety-centre.org/sir/christians-leave-chouf-region , access-date=2022-08-11 , website=Civil Society Knowledge Centre , language=en

References

1977 in Lebanon 1977 murders in Lebanon Chouf District Massacres in 1977 Massacres of Christians in Lebanon Massacres of the Lebanese Civil War