Tag: Islamic State

Three months on, Islamists still hold Christian hostages, as Marawi residents start to rebuild

August 29, 2017 Philippines Islamic State, Manila, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, Teresito Suganob

The siege of the city of Marawi in Mindanao by Islamists one year ago, displaced many people. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

More than three months after it first attacked the city of Marawi in the southern Philippines, the Maute terrorist group is on the run, while still apparently holding 46 hostages, including Catholic priest Teresito “Chito” Suganob and 13 children. Almost half a million Marawi residents are displaced as a result . . . Read More

‘Small window to act’ to restore Christianity in Middle East

August 22, 2017 Iraq Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh, Syria, USA, Yazidis

As Christians are returning to Qaraqosh, Iraq, many have called for action if Christianity is to stay in the Middle East. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

“If something bold is not done by the United States and the international community, I believe we will see the end of Christianity in the cradle of Christendom and a loss of religious and ethnic diversity throughout the region,” says former US Representative Frank Wolf upon his return from a . . . Read More

IS guilty of genocide, says US Secretary of State

August 17, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Al-Shabaab, Andrew Brunson, Blasphemy, Donald Trump, Genocide, Iran, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Lord Alton, NATO, Pakistan, Qatar, Rex Tillerson, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taliban, Turkey, USA, Wahhabism, Yemen

The US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has stressed that the actions of the Islamic State (IS) group against Christians, Yazidis and Shia Muslims constitute genocide, and also criticised America’s ally, Saudi Arabia, for religious freedom violations. Tillerson made his “genocide” comments in the preface to the State Department’s annual . . . Read More

Seven Christians smuggled out of IS-held Raqqa

August 10, 2017 Syria Islamic State, Raqqa, Syria

Kurdish-led forces in Syria rescued seven Christians from IS-held Raqqa on Tuesday (8 August). “Our forces have saved two Armenian families,” said Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition of Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, Turkmen and Circassian militias. The Syriac Military Council (SMC), a member of . . . Read More

Christians in Yemen ‘persevering, not surviving’

August 10, 2017 Yemen Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Houthis, Islamic State, Sana'a, Yemen

Mosque in Yemen's capital Sana'a (2009). The country currently is estimated to be 99 percent Muslim and ruled by Sharia law and the targeted killing of Christians is a "surprisingly recent phenomenon". (Photo: Open Doors International)

The ongoing civil war in Yemen has claimed thousands of lives, but, away from the conflict, the country’s Christian minority has also faced targeted attacks by the insurgent Islamist group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen, the Arab world’s poorest nation, with 26 million people, is “the last bastion on . . . Read More

Iraqi Christians returning to Nineveh Plains after 3 years ‘need protection’

August 7, 2017 Iraq Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Kurds, Lebanon, Nineveh Plains, USA

Iraqi women and children are demonstrating in front of the UN office in Erbil where they present a declaration to the UN calling for protection of minority groups on 13 August 2015. (Photo: Open Doors International)

Three years after Iraq’s Christians fled the Nineveh Plains, driven away by the Islamic State group, human rights lawyer Ewelina Ochab has charted the movements of the Christians and evaluated the likelihood that they will now return. A report published earlier this year showed that 50% of Iraq’s Christians have . . . Read More

Archbishop fears persistence of IS ideology despite military defeat

August 4, 2017 Iraq Iraq, Islamic State, Mosul, Peshmerga

A former archbishop of Mosul has warned that the totalitarian ideology of the Islamic State (IS) group may continue despite the recent recapture of the city and its surrounding areas by Iraqi forces. Chaldean Archbishop Amel Nona was among the thousands of Iraqi Christians who fled their homes in northern . . . Read More

Iraqi Christians reject second mayor installed by pro-Kurd council

August 2, 2017 Iraq Alqosh, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds

Christians in a recently repopulated Iraqi town have protested against a second Kurdish-appointed mayor amid fears of a Kurdish drive to usurp control of northern Christian-majority towns. Lara Yousif, a Chaldean Catholic and a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), was appointed mayor of Alqosh by the pro-Kurdish Nineveh . . . Read More

Fate of kidnapped Philippines priest – 57 today – ‘uncertain’

August 1, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Philippines, South Cotabato, Teresito Suganob

Catholic Priest Suganob is spending his 57th birthday in captivity, held by the Maute terrorist group in Marawi, Philippines. (Photo: still taken from a 'propaganda' video released by the kidnappers)

The fate of the kidnapped Filipino priest Teresito “Chito” Suganob – 57 today – has “become uncertain”, as the battle for the southern city of Marawi continues, according to the Catholic news agency UCAN. In June, World Watch Monitor reported that Father Suganob – who was abducted by the Maute . . . Read More

Iraqi Christians fear Kurdish agenda behind removal of mayor

July 28, 2017 Iraq Alqosh, Assyrians, Baghdad, Iraq, Islamic State, Middle East, Nineveh Plains, Peshmerga, Syria

Assyrians protest in Alqosh against the removal of the Assyrian mayor by the Kurdish Regional Government. (Photo: AINA)

Iraqi Christians are increasingly fearful that the recent ousting of a Christian mayor by a pro-Kurdish council is evidence of a Kurdish agenda to usurp control of northern Christian-majority towns. Fayez Abed Jawahreh, the mayor of Alqosh, a Chaldean-majority town, was dismissed from office on 16 July by Bashar Al . . . Read More

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