Tag: Ankawa

2 years after IS drove them from their homes, Iraqi Christians ‘are still in survival mode’, bishop says

August 1, 2016 Iraq Ankawa, Assyrians, Islamic State, Nineveh Plains, Peshmerga, Refugees

U.S. State Department Deputy Secretary Antony Blinken at the Washington Conference on Threats to Religious and Ethic Minorities Under ISIL, 29 July in Washington, D.C.Video capture / U.S. Office of Policy Planning and Public Diplomacy Two years after being driven from their homeland by the so-called Islamic State, displaced . . . Read More

Erbil airport closure delays Christians leaving Iraq for Europe

December 7, 2015 Iraq Ankawa, Erbil, Islamic State, Kurds

Fr Douglas reveals news that a flight taking displaced Christians from Iraq to Slovakia is delayed, Dec 2015World Watch Monitor We know that some Eastern European countries have been specifying that they are happy to take Christians direct from Iraqi IDP camps, and months of work had started to . . . Read More

Arab churches’ key contribution to Iraqi relief

October 1, 2014 Iraq Ankawa, Erbil, Islamic State, Trauma, UN, Yazidis

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 – . . . Read More

Iraqi Erbil priest: “We aim to treat our refugees as guests”

September 15, 2014 Iraq Ankawa, Catholics, Chaldeans, Erbil, Nineveh Plains

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 . . . Read More

Iraq: last Christians to leave Bartella

September 5, 2014 Iraq Ankawa, Bartella, Dohuk, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Nineveh Plains

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 . . . Read More

‘One week’ deadlines for Iraqi Christians to convert or ‘face the sword’

August 22, 2014 Iraq Alqosh, Ankawa, Assyrians, Bartella, Dohuk, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Qaraqosh, Trauma, UN

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 . . . Read More

Qaraqosh falls, thousands flee

August 8, 2014 Iraq Ankawa, Genocide, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kurds, Mosul, Peshmerga, Qaraqosh, Tel Kaif

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 . . . Read More

First time in 1600 years no Mass said in Mosul, Iraq, says Chaldean Archbishop

June 27, 2014 Iraq Ankawa, Bashar Warda, Chaldeans, Dohuk, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Jizya, Mosul, Peshmerga, Qaraqosh

The Chaldean Catholic Church’s Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, in Kurdish-governed Northern Iraq, is reported as saying that for the first time in 1600 years there was no Mass said in Mosul on Sunday June 15th. This is the city taken over days before by ISIS forces. Reports say the . . . Read More

Mosul Christians tell of ISIS forces’ Iraqi takeover

June 12, 2014 Iraq Alqosh, Ankawa, Baghdad, Dohuk, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds, Mosul, Sunni, Syria

The radical Sunni Islamist ISIS forces continue their takeover of cities in Iraq. Many have fled possible clashes between ISIS and the Iraqi army, and the feared violence ISIS has already shown in places it controls, such as Syrian city Raqqa. Thousands are now in Erbil, 88km (55 miles) east . . . Read More

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