Tag: Mosul

‘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

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

ISIS orders last Christians out of Mosul

July 18, 2014 Iraq Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds, Middle East, Mosul

The Islamist militants controlling the Iraqi city of Mosul have ordered all remaining Christians to leave town immediately or face execution, according to news sources. Middle East Concern, a London-based association of Christian-rights agencies with operations in the Middle East, reported Friday that the militants controlling Mosul had summoned Christian . . . Read More

Mosul’s two kidnapped Chaldean nuns released

July 15, 2014 Iraq Catholics, Chaldeans, Churches, Dohuk, Europe, Islamic State, Kidnapping, Louis Raphael I Sako, Mosul, NATO, Nineveh Plains

Update (15 July) Two kidnapped nuns who managed an orphanage for girls in Mosul, and two women and a boy, who were kidnapped on 28 June have been released. According to ankawa.com no ransom was paid for the release of the five Assyrian victims who are in good health and . . . Read More

First time in 1600 years no Mass said in Mosul, Iraq, says Chaldean Archbishop

June 27, 2014 Iraq Ankawa, Bashar Warda, Chaldeans, Dohuk, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Jizya, Mosul, Peshmerga, Qaraqosh

The Chaldean Catholic Church’s Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, in Kurdish-governed Northern Iraq, is reported as saying that for the first time in 1600 years there was no Mass said in Mosul on Sunday June 15th. This is the city taken over days before by ISIS forces. Reports say the . . . Read More

Fewer Christians left to flee

June 18, 2014 Iraq Alqosh, Iraq, Islamic State, Mosul

Over the years, the Christian town of Alqosh, Iraq, has served as a refuge to Christians of Mosul who have fled various waves of violence in their home city. Now, with the jihadist ISIS in control of Mosul, most of those fleeing the city for comparative safety in Alqosh are . . . Read More

Why Christians are under pressure to exit Iraq

June 13, 2014 Iraq Islamic State, Jizya, Kirkuk, Kurds, Mosul, Saddam Hussein, Syria

Internally displaced Iraqi girl holding a children’s Bible. Kurdistan, November 2007.World Watch Monitor BBC reports have described ISIS ambitions to create an Islamist caliphate spreading from northern Iraq across to north-west Syria. If ISIS can hold Mosul and consolidate its presence there, it will have taken a giant step . . . Read More

Mosul Christians tell of ISIS forces’ Iraqi takeover

June 12, 2014 Iraq Alqosh, Ankawa, Baghdad, Dohuk, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds, Mosul, Sunni, Syria

The radical Sunni Islamist ISIS forces continue their takeover of cities in Iraq. Many have fled possible clashes between ISIS and the Iraqi army, and the feared violence ISIS has already shown in places it controls, such as Syrian city Raqqa. Thousands are now in Erbil, 88km (55 miles) east . . . Read More

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