Tag: Islamic State

Half of Syria and Iraq’s Christians have left since 2011, says report

June 6, 2017 Europe, Germany, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Lebanon, Migrants, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Refugees, Sweden, Syria, Turkey

Three years to the day since the Islamic State group took control of the Iraqi city of Mosul, a new report estimates that – of their Christian populations – 50% have left Iraq since 2006, while 80% have emigrated from Syria since the start of its civil war in 2011. The arrival of IS was only . . . Read More

Kidnapped Philippines priest pleads: ‘Please consider us!’

May 31, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Teresito Suganob, Zamboanga

As the battle for the southern Philippines city of Marawi continues, a priest being held hostage by Islamist militants has appeared in a video, pleading for the President to “consider” hostages’ lives and stop bombing the city. A spokesman for the Philippines army dismissed the video, which was released yesterday . . . Read More

Muslims clean up Mosul monastery desecrated by IS

May 31, 2017 Iraq Islamic State, Mosul

A church in an Iraqi district once terrorised by the Islamic State group has been restored with the help of local Muslims. Residents were horrified after reports claimed Christians were facing abuse even after IS had been chased out of their part of the city. Volunteers said they wanted to . . . Read More

Bomb found outside Cairo church

May 30, 2017 Egypt Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Cairo, Copts, El-Arish, Helwan, Islamic State, Minya, Port Said

A bomb was found outside an Egyptian church just south of the capital, Cairo, yesterday (29 May), according to Coptic news site Watani. A guard reportedly found the bomb inside a paper box by the gate to the Anba-Barsoum al-Erian Monastery, in the Greater Cairo city of Helwan, and “quickly . . . Read More

Islamists besieging Marawi, southern Philippines, kill 9 Christians at checkpoint

May 25, 2017 Philippines Abu Sayyaf, Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, Islamic State, Marawi, Maute, Mindanao, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Rodrigo Duterte

UPDATE (25 May): Nine Christian civilians were reportedly shot dead at a militant-run checkpoint in the besieged city of Marawi in the southern Philippines on Tuesday (23 May). Filipino news site GMA News Online – one of the biggest news and public affairs networks in the country – reported that . . . Read More

Iraqi bishops seek $262m for post-IS ‘Marshall Plan’

May 20, 2017 Iraq Bashar Warda, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Lebanon, Nineveh Plains, Tel Skuf, Turkey

Church leaders in northern Iraq are launching an ambitious US$262 million “Marshall Plan” for the reconstruction of Christian-majority villages devastated by the occupation of Islamic State (IS) jihadists – but knowing they could be subjected to attacks while they implement it. The ecumenical Bishops’ Emergency Committee (BEC) hopes to raise the . . . Read More

Returning Christian families urged to put down roots in northern Iraq

May 18, 2017 Iraq Bartella, Iraq, Islamic State, Karamles, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh, Tel Skuf

Three building sites have been consecrated in Iraqi territory liberated from Islamic State as part of an ambitious plan to facilitate the return of Christians eager to rebuild their homes. The first group of Christian families who were driven from their homes in the Nineveh Plains by Islamic State (IS) . . . Read More

US Vice-President says Trump will protect Middle East Christians and flush out ‘terrorists’

May 12, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab, Boko Haram, Donald Trump, Islamic State, Mike Pence, Taliban

US Vice-President Mike Pence has said that the Trump administration is committed “to defend[ing] Christians, and those of all faiths, whose freedom of religion is threatened”. He was speaking on the first day of the World Summit In Defence of Persecuted Christians in Washington DC, which has been organised by . . . Read More

Relatives of Coptic ‘martyrs’ join summit on persecuted Christians in US capital

May 11, 2017 Global News -- No Particular Country Afghanistan, Central African Republic, Chad, Converts, Copts, Donald Trump, Egypt, India, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Libya, Mexico, Mike Pence, Pakistan, Refugees, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Sudan, USA

A “World Summit in Defence of Persecuted Christians” has started in Washington DC, and is expected to be addressed by the US Vice-President Mike Pence today (Thursday, 11 May). It has been organised by American evangelist Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. 600 participants have come from 136 countries: including Egypt, . . . Read More

Pakistan releases IS-linked woman who planned Easter suicide attack

May 10, 2017 Pakistan Islamic State, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Lahore, Mardan, Multan, Pakistan, Youhanabad

Pakistani Christians have expressed dismay at a decision by the authorities to quietly release a woman who was planning to carry out a suicide bomb attack in a church in the city of Lahore over the Easter weekend. Pakistan’s army chief spokesman, Major-General Asif Ghafoor, said that Noreen Leghari, 19, . . . Read More

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