Tag: Islamic State

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

Protestant union issues ‘urgent appeal’ to help Iraqi Christians

September 4, 2014 Iraq Islamic State, Protestants, Saddam Hussein

Refugees from Mosul or towns on the Nineveh plain seeking shelter under a highway near Dohuk in the Kurdish region. They fled the violence caused by IS. August 7, 2014 Courtesy of Capni Declaring the plight of Christians in the Middle East a “state of emergency,” evangelical and Protestant . . . Read More

IS leaflets spread in Pakistan; 1200 Christians displaced as army attacked militants

September 3, 2014 Pakistan Afghanistan, All Saints Church, Islamic State, Pashtun, Taliban

Qissa Khanni Bazaar in Peshawar, Pakistan. ‎November‎ ‎2008 EUPK/ Flickr / Creative Commons In what looks like a bid to extend its influence in the South Asian region, IS militants have allegedly distributed 12-page pamphlets in the north-west of Pakistan, in Peshawar and in Afghan refugee camps based near . . . Read More

‘We want to stay in Iraq, but can’t live like this anymore’

September 1, 2014 Iraq Assyrians, Bashiqa, Christina Abada, Dohuk, Erbil, Islamic State, Kirkuk, Mosul, Qaraqosh

Tents in the yard of a church in Erbil. Pictured are some of the tents of the 216 displaced families who fled the violence of IS fighters. August 16, 2014 World Watch Monitor When IS captured Mosul on June 10th the most devastating part of its seizure was its . . . Read More

UK Muslim leaders’ fatwa on IS jihadists

September 1, 2014 Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Syria, UK

According to the Sunday Times, “some of Britain’s most influential imams have condemned British Muslims fighting alongside ISIS extremists in Iraq and Syria,” and ‘they have issued a fatwa, or religious decree, describing them as ‘heretics’.” This is the first fatwa of its kind to be issued by British Muslim . . . 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

A timeline of ISIS terror

August 15, 2014 Iraq Islamic State, Nineveh Plains

In June, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a splinter group of al-Qaeda known as ISIS, began an offensive across northern Iraq. It first seized Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, and a handful of smaller towns. Tens of thousands of Iraqis, many of them Christian, have fled their . . . 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

Sunni militants push Christians out of Qaraqosh

August 7, 2014 Iraq Iraq, Islamic State, Kirkuk, Kurds, Mosul, Qaraqosh, Refugees, Sunni

Armed jihadists of the so-called “Islamic State” took over Iraq’s largest Christian town, Qaraqosh, and surrounding towns early Thursday, forcing thousands of Christians to flee further into Kurdistan. Widespread news reports said Sunni militants moved into the area overnight, after Kurdish defense forces withdrew. The militants also have seized Mosul Dam, . . . Read More

IS invades monastery, steals ‘everything’ from Iraqi Christians

July 22, 2014 Iraq Al-Qaeda, Alqosh, Baghdad, Batnaya, Chaldeans, Dohuk, Erbil, Genocide, Iraq, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Jizya, Kidnapping, Kurds, Louis Raphael I Sako, Minorities, Mosul, Qaraqosh, Sunni, Tel Kaif

After every known Christian is reported to have left Mosul, Islamic State fighters, IS, have now taken over a monastery near the largely Christian town of Qaraqosh, 32 miles southeast of Mosul. According to Agence France Presse IS expelled its three resident monks, a cleric and a few families living there, ordering . . . Read More

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