Christians who fled IS displaced again as Iraqi and Kurdish forces clash

Christians who fled IS displaced again as Iraqi and Kurdish forces clash
Fighting has erupted between Iraqi and Kurdish forces in a predominantly Christian town in northern Iraq, causing residents to flee. Around 900 families have fled Telskuf and its surrounding villages – part of the Nineveh Plains region of northern Iraq liberated last year from the Islamic State group – to . . . Read More

Iraqi Christians fear Kurdish agenda behind removal of mayor

Assyrians protest in Alqosh against the removal of the Assyrian mayor by the Kurdish Regional Government. (Photo: AINA)
Iraqi Christians are increasingly fearful that the recent ousting of a Christian mayor by a pro-Kurdish council is evidence of a Kurdish agenda to usurp control of northern Christian-majority towns. Fayez Abed Jawahreh, the mayor of Alqosh, a Chaldean-majority town, was dismissed from office on 16 July by Bashar Al . . . Read More

Iraqi families urged to return and rebuild homes in Nineveh Plains

Iraqi families urged to return and rebuild homes in Nineveh Plains
The families of Nidal (left) and Janan (centre) recently returned home to the Christian town of Telskuf.Open Doors International   As the offensive against IS in western Mosul drives civilians out of the jihadists’ last Iraqi stronghold, residents of towns already liberated are returning home with their expectations high – . . . Read More

‘One week’ deadlines for Iraqi Christians to convert or ‘face the sword’

‘One week’ deadlines for Iraqi Christians to convert or ‘face the sword’
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

IS invades monastery, steals ‘everything’ from Iraqi Christians

IS invades monastery, steals ‘everything’ from Iraqi Christians
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

Fewer Christians left to flee

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