Once home to one of the largest Christian communities in the Middle East, Iraq today is in danger of losing Christianity completely. The Islamic State group forced thousands of Christians to flee after it stormed through the Nineveh Plains in 2014. Some have now returned, following IS’s military defeat. But even with IS gone, in many areas of Iraq daily life is governed by Sharia (Islamic law) and Muslims are forbidden to leave Islam.
Arab churches’ key contribution to Iraqi relief
Members of Kasr el-Dobara church in Egypt, shown in 2012, have given generously to support refugees in Iraq.World Watch Monitor As a coalition of Western and Arab countries continues military action to try to defeat Islamic State (IS), it’s timely to hear how the region’s largest Christian minority – […]
New urgency for an old idea: Nineveh
An ancient Nineveh gate, east of Mosul.James Gordon / Flickr / Creative Commons The militant Islamist rampage across Iraq has intensified calls for a Christian “safe zone,” even as it has made the task of achieving it more difficult. The jihadists, who call their movement the “Islamic State,” have […]
Recently engaged man loses his fiancée, mother and nephew in IS Baghdad bombings
Alghadeer shopping area after the bombing. Baghdad, IraqCourtesy of Ankawa.com The violent jihadist incursion into Iraq is suspected of attacks in Baghdad Sept. 10 that killed about 30 people and injured several others. Three car bombs exploded minutes apart in Alghadeer, a Shi’ite neighbourhood in eastern Baghdad. The bombings […]
Iraqi Erbil priest: “We aim to treat our refugees as guests”
The so-far ‘safe’ city of Erbil in Kurdish-governed north-eastern Iraq has seen thousands of Christian refugees arrive over the last few months with many relying on the church for sanctuary. But how are local churches bearing up to the influx? In the Mar Elia Chaldean Catholic church in the suburb […]
Iraq: last Christians to leave Bartella
Rev. Yacoub Saad ShamasCourtesy Open Doors International The last Christians have fled the northern Iraqi town of Bartella. Six babies were born during the difficult journey east to Erbil, a city under Kurdish control and still known to be safe for Christians. The church group was led to safety […]
Protestant union issues ‘urgent appeal’ to help Iraqi Christians
Refugees from Mosul or towns on the Nineveh plain seeking shelter under a highway near Dohuk in the Kurdish region. They fled the violence caused by IS. August 7, 2014 Courtesy of Capni Declaring the plight of Christians in the Middle East a “state of emergency,” evangelical and Protestant […]
‘We want to stay in Iraq, but can’t live like this anymore’
Tents in the yard of a church in Erbil. Pictured are some of the tents of the 216 displaced families who fled the violence of IS fighters. August 16, 2014 World Watch Monitor When IS captured Mosul on June 10th the most devastating part of its seizure was its […]
‘One week’ deadlines for Iraqi Christians to convert or ‘face the sword’
A Christian Iraqi refugee sweeping the concrete floor of the unfinished building where she now lives. Ankawa; August 20 2014World Watch Monitor An Iraqi Christian Mikha Qasha, fleeing from Qaraqosh, has given a personal account of members of the Islamic State, IS, coming to his house and threatening him […]
A timeline of ISIS terror
In June, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a splinter group of al-Qaeda known as ISIS, began an offensive across northern Iraq. It first seized Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, and a handful of smaller towns. Tens of thousands of Iraqis, many of them Christian, have fled their […]
Qaraqosh falls, thousands flee
Map of IS occupation in Iraq as of August 7 2014. Courtesy of Open Doors International Armed jihadists of the so-called “Islamic State” took over Iraq’s largest Christian town, Qaraqosh, and nearby Christian settlements early Thursday, forcing thousands of Christians to flee to Kurdish-controlled areas. Statements of anguish and […]