Tag: Qaraqosh

Under the shadow of IS: Iraqi Christians tell of crucifixions, torture, sex slavery

November 21, 2016 Iraq Baghdad, Batnaya, Islamic State, Jordan, Kurds, Mosul, Qaraqosh, Refugees

Islamic State jihadists hung Karlus, 29, from the ceiling of the jail he was held in, by a rope attached to his left foot. As blood poured from his foot, they beat and kicked him, rubbing salt into his wounds.ADF International Islamic State (IS) jihadists hung Karlus, a 29-year-old . . . Read More

Christian killed in Basra for ‘selling alcohol’

November 4, 2016 Iraq Basra, Iraq, Qaraqosh

A Christian shop owner said to be serving alcohol was shot dead in Iraq’s southern city of Basra, days after the country’s parliament passed a law prohibiting the commodity deemed “un-Islamic”. Nizar Elias Musa, 47, was shot in the neck late on Tuesday (25 Oct.) by two unidentified gunmen riding . . . Read More

The Cross, deemed illegal by IS, returns to Iraq’s Nineveh Plain

November 1, 2016 Iraq Karamles, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh

There were tears, soldiers praying, priests singing. This was the moment thousands of Iraqi Christians had been waiting for: the Cross, symbol of Christ’s victory over evil, deemed illegal by IS, had returned to the Christian villages in Iraq’s Nineveh Plain. This came as news continues to emerge of more . . . Read More

More Iraqi towns ‘freed’ but Nineveh Christians not confident about safe return

October 25, 2016 Iraq Bartella, Bashiqa, Chaldeans, Islamic State, Karamles, Middle East, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Peshmerga, Qaraqosh, Tel Kaif

The heavily damaged and burnt Tahira (Immaculate) Syriac Catholic Church in Baghdeda.World Watch Monitor As prayers were offered in Syriac in front of the altar of the trashed church of Mart Shmoni in the recently freed town of Bartella, more homes where Christians used to live in Iraq’s north-eastern . . . Read More

One ‘Christian’ town freed en route to Mosul

October 21, 2016 Iraq Assyrians, Bartella, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh

As anti-Islamic State (IS) forces continue their operations to recapture Iraq’s second city of Mosul, Christians from towns around it have welcomed the retaking of their two-years’ deserted homes. According to sources monitoring the situation on the ground, Bartella, a town with a significant Christian presence prior to the IS . . . Read More

Monk living near Mosul: ‘Persecution is a pride for us’

October 13, 2016 Iraq Islamic State, Mosul, Qaraqosh, Tel Skuf

St. Matthew’s monastery falls halfway between Mosul and Iraq’s Kurdistan.World Watch Monitor As anti-Islamic State (IS) forces prepare for a major push to dislodge the jihadists from Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, thoughts are turning to what could happen to those still living in the region. Displacement camps are . . . Read More

Run over by US tank, run out of his home by IS: Iraqi monk’s own experience helps others

September 27, 2016 Iraq Baghdad, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Qaraqosh

First he was run over by a US tank, then an invading Islamic State militia forced him to abandon his monastery in northern Iraq. Raeed, a monk from Qaraqosh – Iraq’s largest Christian town – had to flee and set up a temporary monastery in a displacement camp in Erbil. . . . Read More

‘Part of our heart is missing’: parents of girl held by IS

September 9, 2016 Iraq Christina Abada, Islamic State, Qaraqosh, Trauma

Ayda relives that most horrible moment daily, even though it took place two years ago. During a ‘medical check-up’ in the north-eastern Iraqi town of Qaraqosh, militants from the ‘Islamic State’ took interest in her three-year-old daughter, Christina. Suddenly, they snatched the child out of her arms and gave the crying . . . Read More

Iraq: 2 years since Nineveh fell to IS, displaced Christians pray for ‘liberation’

August 8, 2016 Iraq Islamic State, Karamles, Kurds, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh, Refugees

It’s been two years since thousands of Christians fled their homes in Mosul and the Nineveh Plains to run away from the advancing armies of the so-called Islamic State. But now, as Iraqi forces plan to retake Mosul, the Christians are praying they will soon be able to return home. . . . Read More

Iraqi Christians confront two-year trauma with drama

August 5, 2016 Iraq Christina Abada, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds, Lebanon, Qaraqosh

Part of a play performed by Iraqi Christians forced to flee to Kurdistan after the self-proclaimed Islamic State seized their northern town of Qaraqosh.Video capture / World Watch Monitor “The streets are empty! Why are the streets empty?” The shocked actor shouts at the top of his lungs: “Qaraqosh, . . . Read More

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