Tag: Islamic State

3 bombs kill 16 in Syrian border town

January 4, 2016 Syria Assyrians, Islamic State, Kurds, Qamishli, Syria

Bombers attacked three Christian-owned restaurants in the Syrian town of Qamishli on 30 Dec., killing at least 16 and injuring dozens, according to various independent news reports. The self-proclaimed “Islamic State” claimed responsibility, , citing the Amaq news service, which supports IS. The Syriac Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch, Moran Mor . . . Read More

Latest Assyrian hostages’ release by ISIS

January 4, 2016 Syria Assyrians, Children, Hasakah, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Syria, Women

ISIS has released 25 of the Assyrian hostages it captured during the militant group’s February 2015 in Hassaka Province, northern Syria. The hostages were released in good health on Christmas day. Two of the hostages were men and the rest women and children. All the children belonged to six of . . . Read More

UK leaders say IS guilty of Christian ‘genocide’

December 21, 2015 Copts, Egypt, Genocide, Islamic State, Lord Alton, UK, UN, USA, Yazidis

Sixty UK parliamentarians, led by Lord Alton and the convenor of the Catholic Legislators’ Network, MP Rob Flello, have to ask that he use his influence to come to an agreement with the UN with reference to Daesh’s (ISIS) atrocities against minorities. Their letter calls on the 127 signatories of . . . Read More

US Senate condemns IS sexual violence

December 18, 2015 Iraq, Islamic State, Minorities, USA, Women, Yazidis

The U.S. Senate has “ongoing sexual violence” by the self-proclaimed Islamic State against Christian and other minority women in Iraq. The resolution, , arose from a September hearing at which an Iraqi woman told members of Congress about her escape from sexual enslavement at the hands of an American fighting . . . Read More

5 years on: what has the Arab Spring meant for Christians?

December 17, 2015 Arab Spring, Copts, Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, Iraq, Islamic State, Libya, Middle East, Muammar Gaddafi, Muslim Brotherhood, North Africa, Ramadan, Syria, Tunisia

The Arab Spring, which began five years ago today (17th December) started with a wave of protests in Tunisia followed by other Arab countries. It was positively acclaimed as a social movement demanding an end to human rights violations, government corruption and poverty. Yet, so far, the outcome is largely contrary to . . . Read More

Egyptian brothers add to tally of Christians killed in Libya

December 16, 2015 Egypt Ansar al-Sharia, Copts, Egypt, Islamic State, Libya, Sohag

Today, 16 December, is the date set for the signing of a UN-facilitated agreement on forming a new national unity government in Libya. Since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, the country has been engulfed by conflicts between various coalitions of armed groups. The country is split between an . . . Read More

Syria: 11 churches attacked since February

December 15, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Churches, Civil War, Islamic State, Khabur, Syria

The Assyrian International News Agency (AINA) has released a list of the names of Syrian churches and monasteries destroyed by ISIS and other jihadi groups since February. “On February 23, ISIS attacked the 35 Assyrian villages on the Khabur River in [Al-Hasakah], Syria, capturing 253 Assyrians. In the subsequent months . . . Read More

25 Assyrian captives freed

December 10, 2015 Syria Assyrians, Hasakah, Islamic State, Khabur, Kidnapping, Syria

Twenty-five Syrian Christians abducted by the self-proclaimed Islamic State in February have been released, . The freed captives, all of them men and which included two boys ages 7 and 9, were among 253 Assyrians captured during an IS attack on dozens of villages near the Khabur river in the Hasaka province, . . . Read More

Push to include Christians in IS ‘genocide’ charge

December 8, 2015 Global News -- No Particular Country Asylum seekers, Genocide, Iraq, Islamic State, Jizya, Syria, USA, Yazidis

The US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has called on its government to include Christians in the definition of those at risk of genocide from Islamic State’s campaign in Syria and Iraq. A calls for a broader inclusion of Christians, Shi’a, Turkmen and Shabak communities as well as Yazidis, . . . 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

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