Tag: Dohuk

Chaldean Patriarch congratulates surprise Iraqi election winner

May 23, 2018 Iraq Assyrians, Dohuk, Elections, Iraq, Kirkuk, Louis Raphael I Sako, Nineveh Plains, Shia, Sunni, Syriacs

The Chaldean Patriarch, Louis Sako, has telephoned Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr to congratulate him on his unexpected victory in the country’s recent parliamentary elections. The Patriarchate also said that Sako told Sadr he hoped for a government that promotes the common good of all the Iraqi people. According to . . . Read More

Nineveh Christians still talk of emigration, despite Iraqi-Kurd peace agreement

November 3, 2017 Iraq Dohuk, Iraq, Islamic State, Kirkuk, Nineveh Plains, Peshmerga

In an attack of IS on Friday 21 Oct 2016, about 50 students and 8 nuns were in the area where IS launched an attack on Kirkuk. Check also the article on GP, published 24 Oct 2016.

Christians in Kirkuk and other parts of northern Iraq continue to worry about insecurity in the Nineveh Plains despite the recent peace agreement between Kurdish and Iraqi forces. Recent clashes between the Kurdish Peshmerga and the combined forces of the Iraqi army and al-Hashd al-Shaabi – the pro-Iraqi militia groups – . . . Read More

Christians who fled IS displaced again as Iraqi and Kurdish forces clash

October 25, 2017 Iraq Alqosh, Bashiqa, Dohuk, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds, Nineveh Plains, Peshmerga, Tel Skuf

Fighting has erupted between Iraqi and Kurdish forces in a predominantly Christian town in northern Iraq, causing residents to flee. Around 900 families have fled Telskuf and its surrounding villages – part of the Nineveh Plains region of northern Iraq liberated last year from the Islamic State group – to . . . Read More

Nineveh Christians rebuild their homes, but threats remain in Iraq

September 7, 2017 Iraq Bashiqa, Dohuk, Iraq, Islamic State, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh

With towns and cities such as Qaraqosh and Bashiqa in Iraq’s Nineveh Plains now liberated from Islamic State (IS) forces and their original inhabitants beginning to return, there is confidence among some local Christian leaders that life is slowly beginning to get back to normal. “I am optimistic, yes, very . . . Read More

Iraqi families urged to return and rebuild homes in Nineveh Plains

March 3, 2017 Iraq Alqosh, Batnaya, Dohuk, IDPs, Islamic State, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Tel Skuf

The families of Nidal (left) and Janan (centre) recently returned home to the Christian town of Telskuf.Open Doors International As the offensive against IS in western Mosul drives civilians out of the jihadists’ last Iraqi stronghold, residents of towns already liberated are returning home with their expectations high – . . . Read More

Trump travel ban dints Iraqi Christians’ support

February 23, 2017 Iraq Assyrians, Dohuk, Donald Trump, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Kurds, USA

Iraqi Christians who backed the candidacy of Donald Trump have become disillusioned with his presidency since his executive order barred Iraqis, along with citizens of six other Muslim-majority countries, from entering the US. Many Iraqi minorities supported Trump because of his anti-Islamic State rhetoric. The Assyrian Church of the East’s . . . Read More

As retake of Mosul looms, Muslim extremism has already emptied Iraq of Christians

October 19, 2016 Iraq Dohuk, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Mosul

A young girl lights a candle in an artificial cave at Mar Elia church, Ankawa (Irbil), where many displaced Christians have taken refuge.World Watch Monitor On Monday (17 October) Iraq’s Army finally announced the beginning of its offensive to retake the northern city of Mosul from the “Islamic State” . . . Read More

Iraq: Why Najiba can’t go home

June 9, 2016 Iraq Dohuk, Islamic State, Mosul, Tel Skuf

Najiba in her portacabin – her home as an IDP for the last two years, 2016World Watch Monitor Two years on from Mosul falling to Islamic State, World Watch Monitor hears from Najiba, a woman forced to flee her home on the frontline of fighting between the jihadist group . . . Read More

Assyrians seek world support vs. Turkish bombings

January 27, 2016 Iraq Assyrians, Dohuk, Iraq, Nineveh Plains, PKK, Turkey

A coalition of Assyrian organisations in Europe has urged Turkey to stop bombing Assyrian villages in northern Iraq “under the pretext of fighting the Kurdish PKK”, on 26 Jan. The aerial bombardment by Turkey was part of an intensified campaign, ongoing since late August 2015, according to a statement by . . . Read More

Thinking of home this Christmas, displaced Iraqi Christians look ahead with hope

December 24, 2015 Iraq Christmas, Dohuk, Erbil

This nativity picture hung inside Nissan’s caravan. The family wished to keep their own photos private.World Watch Monitor Back at home in their Nineveh Plain town of Qaraqosh, the children learnt ‘Aboun Bashmayo‘, or ‘Our Father…,‘ in their original Syriac tongue. Now, as refugees, they were singing ‘Forgive us . . . Read More

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