Home
News
Archives
Iraqi Christians flee Mosul as Islamic e...

Email:

Iraqi Christians flee Mosul as Islamic extremists launch campaign against them: "We left everything behind us. We took only our souls."

To

Email address:
Separate multiple addresses with a comma (,). Maximum of 10

From

Your name:
Your email address:
Security test:
Please enter the numbers that appear here in the box below.
 refresh captcha
CAPTCHA Image
Security code:

Details provided here will never be used in any other context

Published: Monday 13 October 2008

Iraqi Christians flee Mosul as Islamic extremists launch campaign against them: "We left everything behind us. We took only our souls."

Project(s): 20-227

Country: IRAQ

Thousands of Iraqi Christians have fled the city of Mosul in northern Iraq over the past week after Sunni Muslim extremists launched a deadly campaign to remove the Christian community from the city. “We left everything behind us. We took only our souls,” said Ni’ma Noail (50), a civil servant who had to abandon his home in Mosul and is now living in a church.

At least seven Christians were murdered between 4 and 8 October, killed execution-style by gunmen. Other estimates suggest the number of Christians killed is as high as 25 or even 40. Christian houses have been blown up, and at least 744 Christian families (approximately 3,750 people) have left their homes to find refuge with relatives or in churches and Christian centres in seven towns and villages to the north and east of Mosul. Some are sleeping in their cars. They are in desperate need of food, clothes, bedding, items for personal hygiene and other basic necessities.

Leaflets have been distributed in Mosul, threatening Christians with death unless they convert to Islam or pay the Islamic jizya tax that marks them as second-class citizens. The leaflets, which are an effective tactic used before in Baghdad and elsewhere, have been condemned by the Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq. One source reports that last Thursday, 9 October, extremists drove around the Mosul neighbourhood of Sukkar, shouting through a loudspeaker that Christians would be attacked unless they left the city.

Northern Iraq is the historic centre of Christianity in Iraq. Many Christians from Baghdad and Basra had fled to the north for safety in recent years. The estimated Christian population of Mosul is now 50,000.

It is believed that the extremists behind the campaign are linked to al-Qaeda. The attacks follow on the heels of another blow to the Christian community when Parliament agreed on 24 September to remove Article 50 from the Provincial Election Law. The Article had guaranteed a specific number of seats for minorities, including Christians, on the Regional Councils (see previous article).

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Aid, comments:

“The situation in Iraq is extremely grave. Sunni Muslim extremists are moving north, now that they have successfully managed to intimidate and drive out most of the Christians from the cities of Basra in the south and Baghdad in the centre of Iraq. I appeal to the Iraqi government and the US army to intervene urgently to prevent the elimination of the indigenous Christian community of Iraq. I also appeal to Christians around the world to help meet the practical needs of their Iraqi brothers and sisters at this time through the ministry of Barnabas Aid.”

Please help our brothers and sisters in Iraq:

Barnabas Aid is helping to provide practical aid such as food and blankets to Iraqi Christian families who had to flee their homes for fear of their lives in this recent Islamist campaign to drive out the Christian community from Iraq.

If you can help us to support our Iraqi brothers and sisters at this difficult time please click this [Link] to donate online using our secure server. (Please quote project reference 20-227.)

If you prefer to telephone, dial: 0800 587 4006 from within the UK or +44 1672 565031 from outside the UK. (Please quote project reference 20-227.)

If you prefer to send a cheque by post: Click this [link] for addresses of our regional offices. (Please quote project reference 20-227.)

 

Please Pray:

Pray for God`s protection over the Christian community in Iraq, and particularly in Mosul. Pray that the Lord will comfort them, and give them the grace to forgive their persecutors. Pray also that help will reach those in need quickly.


Pray that the citizens of Mosul will stand up together against the Islamist groups responsible for the atrocities. Pray that Iraqi and US forces will intervene quickly and decisively, putting an end to the Islamist campaign to drive out the Christian community from Mosul or indeed from the whole of Iraq. Pray that the international community and media will start taking note of the very real danger Iraqi Christians are facing in their homeland.

christian, persecution, charity, church, persecuted, sookhdeo, Islam

Other articles

No related articles found

Latest Emergency

/_images_files/content/article_files/sudan/201201/Sudan-aid-4x3.jpg

Follow Barnabas

or

receive news & appeal emails as they are published

From Twitter

From Twitter_icon

  • Sharia court issues fatwa ordering expulsion of pastor from Indian state http://t.co/WmolORuB 17 hours ago

  • Christian converts in Cameroon under threat from militant Islamists http://t.co/At7ndHJk Tue, Feb 2012 10:23

  • Acid attack on pastor highlights growing religious intolerance in Uganda http://t.co/4BRXLXfh Mon, Feb 2012 09:50

  • Court ratifies death sentence for three men convicted of 2010 attack on Iraq church that left more than 50 dead http://t.co/ZVI9p68G Fri, Feb 2012 16:33

  • Egyptian Christians are concerned about their future under the new parliament. http://t.co/GwXFiJxM Thu, Feb 2012 16:47

Read more...

Daily prayer

Daily prayer_icon

  • On 3 November a prayer meeting was drawing to a close at a church in Tabak Village, Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria, when gunmen burst into the building. They opened fire on the congregation, which was made up mainly of women and children. Two women died at the scene, and twelve other people were wounded, some critically. The next day six churches in the mainly Christian neighbourhood of Jerusalem in Damatura, Yobe State, were bombed as part of a wider series of attacks by the militant Islamist group Boko Haram. One minister said that gangs of young men were roaming the streets throwing improvised bombs into church buildings. Pray that God will comfort His people in their grief and distress. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed 1 hour ago

  • Just as Paul worked as a tentmaker while bringing the Gospel to others (Acts 18:2-4), so nine recent Bible school graduates in Senegal learned a practical skill to support themselves in their ministry while also receiving a solid nine-month Biblical training. Support from Barnabas made this possible. Every weekday morning the students immersed themselves in theological training, and in the afternoons they learned skills such as farming, baking and breeding livestock. Pray that God will inspire and lead them as they work and witness amongst non-believers in Senegal, where the overwhelming majority is Muslim. Ask the Lord that their Muslim neighbours will respond with faith to their message. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Wed, Feb 2012 00:00

  • Since the fall of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in February, hard-line Islamist groups that his regime had kept on a tight leash have grown in strength and influence. They have emerged with the largest share of the vote in the first parliamentary elections since the revolution. Key figures from the leading party, the Muslim Brotherhood, have made statements revealing their intention to implement sharia law, which would be a very worrying development for Egyptian Christians and also for the revolutionaries who wanted to see Egypt become a secular democracy. Pray that the country will not become an Islamic state and that all citizens will be fairly represented in the new political order. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Tue, Feb 2012 00:00

  • The protest in Cairo (see yesterday’s prayer point) was sparked by the destruction of St George’s Church in Aswan province on 30 September 2011. Muslims, angry about renovation work that was being carried out on the dilapidated building, had previously threatened to demolish the church. A mob descended on St George’s after Friday prayers and demolished the dome, walls and columns before torching the building. Other property owned by Christians was also burnt. This incident was the latest in a long line of violent attacks on Christians in Egypt, which have intensified since the revolution. Pray that the Lord will encourage the congregation that has lost their building and provide them with alternative premises in which to meet and worship Him. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Mon, Feb 2012 00:00

  • At least 25 people were killed and hundreds injured when Christian protestors were brutally assaulted in Egypt on Sunday 9 October. Video footage showed military vehicles charging at Christians who were demonstrating in Cairo against the torching of a church and other injustices. They were also shot at, beaten and dragged through the streets by soldiers, Islamist attackers and plain-clothed thugs. Although Muslims were among the aggressors, some were also reportedly present to defend the Christians from the security forces. Adding insult to injury, generals from the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces blamed Christian protestors for the violence, and denied that troops had fired at protestors and rolled over them in military vehicles. Pray for all those who were bereaved and injured in this attack, and ask that Egyptian Christians will be treated justly as equal citizens. Subscribe to the prayer points rss feed Sun, Feb 2012 00:00

Read more...

Quick navigation

© Barnabas Aid 1997 - 2012 All rights reserved.
Barnabas Aid is a registered trade mark