It struck in the area between Kashmar and Bardeskan. Hardest hit were the villages of Javor and Kondor, which are on the outskirts of Kashmar. The radical Muslim Hezbollah has said Maronite Christians should be punished for their support of the South Lebanese Army, a militia group that fought alongside the Israelis against terrorist groups, Conservative News Service said. They are afraid a kind of ethnic cleansing will take place of the Christians in the area. Israeli troops are scheduled to leave the area in July and persecution of Marionites has already begun, reported Religion Today .
Police suspect Muslim terrorists killed a Christian couple and a Maronite nun last month.
Reuters has reported that a U.S. intelligence report warned Americans are under growing threat from infectious diseases brewing in the rest of the world. At least 30 previously unknown diseases have appeared globally since 1973, including HIV, AIDS, Hepatitis C, Ebola hemorrhagic fever and the encephalitis-related Nipah virus. Americans are at risk because the United States is a major hub of global travel, immigration and commerce and has a large civilian and military presence overseas, reported Jack van Impe Ministries . President Clinton is expected to veto a congressional bill called the Taiwan Security Enhancement Act, which would expand military ties between the United States and Taiwan. The White House is afraid the bill would get in the way of the United States trying to gather support for permanent trade relations with China.