Tag: Nineveh Plains

Nineveh Christians rebuild their homes, but threats remain in Iraq

September 7, 2017 Iraq Bashiqa, Dohuk, Iraq, Islamic State, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh

With towns and cities such as Qaraqosh and Bashiqa in Iraq’s Nineveh Plains now liberated from Islamic State (IS) forces and their original inhabitants beginning to return, there is confidence among some local Christian leaders that life is slowly beginning to get back to normal. “I am optimistic, yes, very . . . Read More

Iraqi Archbishop of Mosul: ‘My cousin, my friend, my teacher – all killed by terrorists’

August 31, 2017 Iraq Al-Qaeda, Iraq, Islamic State, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Saddam Hussein, Salafism

The last Christian leader to leave Mosul after it was invaded by the Islamic State group in 2014 has spoken about his personal loss to terrorism, as Nuri Kino reports in the Huffington Post. Archbishop Nicodemus Daoud Sharaf, who risked his life to stay as long as possible in Mosul, . . . Read More

Christian woman freed from Islamic State after 3 years in captivity

August 31, 2017 Iraq Iraq, Islamic State, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh

A Christian woman held in captivity for three years at an Islamic State stronghold in Iraq is finally home. Rana Esso had been held in Tal Afar, in north-west Iraq, since IS invaded the Nineveh Plains in August 2014. She was released on Sunday (27 August) after Iraqi security forces . . . Read More

‘Small window to act’ to restore Christianity in Middle East

August 22, 2017 Iraq Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh, Syria, USA, Yazidis

As Christians are returning to Qaraqosh, Iraq, many have called for action if Christianity is to stay in the Middle East. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

“If something bold is not done by the United States and the international community, I believe we will see the end of Christianity in the cradle of Christendom and a loss of religious and ethnic diversity throughout the region,” says former US Representative Frank Wolf upon his return from a . . . Read More

Iraqi Christians returning to Nineveh Plains after 3 years ‘need protection’

August 7, 2017 Iraq Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Kurds, Lebanon, Nineveh Plains, USA

Iraqi women and children are demonstrating in front of the UN office in Erbil where they present a declaration to the UN calling for protection of minority groups on 13 August 2015. (Photo: Open Doors International)

Three years after Iraq’s Christians fled the Nineveh Plains, driven away by the Islamic State group, human rights lawyer Ewelina Ochab has charted the movements of the Christians and evaluated the likelihood that they will now return. A report published earlier this year showed that 50% of Iraq’s Christians have . . . Read More

Iraqi Christians fear Kurdish agenda behind removal of mayor

July 28, 2017 Iraq Alqosh, Assyrians, Baghdad, Iraq, Islamic State, Middle East, Nineveh Plains, Peshmerga, Syria

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

Iraq Christians returning home face many hurdles

June 14, 2017 Iraq Bashar Warda, Islamic State, Middle East, Mosul, Nineveh Plains

Three years since the northern Iraqi city of Mosul was taken by Islamic State militants, Iraqi government forces have been able to reclaim a large part of the city, allowing Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Baghdad Louis Raphael Sako to visit several churches and monasteries. While there is still fierce fighting . . . Read More

Abducted Christina reunited with her parents after 3 years

June 9, 2017 Iraq Christina Abada, Erbil, IDPs, Islamic State, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh, Refugees, Trauma

Five-year-old Christina, shortly after she was reunited with her family, including mother Ayda in the back. (Twitter @thestevennabil)

After almost three years in captivity, an Iraqi Christian girl abducted by the Islamic State in August 2014 has finally been reunited with her parents. Christina Abada, who is about to celebrate her sixth birthday, was welcomed home at around 10am this morning, local time. Locals say she was released . . . Read More

Half of Syria and Iraq’s Christians have left since 2011, says report

June 6, 2017 Europe, Germany, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Lebanon, Migrants, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Refugees, Sweden, Syria, Turkey

Three years to the day since the Islamic State group took control of the Iraqi city of Mosul, a new report estimates that – of their Christian populations – 50% have left Iraq since 2006, while 80% have emigrated from Syria since the start of its civil war in 2011. The arrival of IS was only . . . Read More

Iraqi bishops seek $262m for post-IS ‘Marshall Plan’

May 20, 2017 Iraq Bashar Warda, Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Lebanon, Nineveh Plains, Tel Skuf, Turkey

Church leaders in northern Iraq are launching an ambitious US$262 million “Marshall Plan” for the reconstruction of Christian-majority villages devastated by the occupation of Islamic State (IS) jihadists – but knowing they could be subjected to attacks while they implement it. The ecumenical Bishops’ Emergency Committee (BEC) hopes to raise the . . . Read More

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