Green Energy
Vatican Radio:
Mosul now emptied of Christians, says Archbishop
(Vatican Radio) Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Chaldean Archbishop Amel Nona, said he thought Mosul's last remaining Christians had left now a city which until 2003 was home to 35,000 faithful.
The Christians are among 500,000 thought to have fled Mosul whose overthrow yesterday is now followed by news today (Wed, 11 June) of militant attacks on the Iraqi city of Tikrit 95 miles north of the capital, Baghdad.
Describing reports of attacks to four churches and a monastery in Mosul, the archbishop, 46, said: "We received threats... [and] now all the faithful have fled the city. I wonder if they will ever return there."
The archbishop, who in the ensuing crisis sought sanctuary in Tal Kayf, a village two miles from Mosul, described how the local community were doing their best to provide for crowds of people flooding out of the city and into the surrounding Nineveh plains, where there are a number of ancient Christian villages.
"Up at 5am yesterday [Tuesday, 10 June] morning we welcomed families on the run and we have tried to find accommodation in schools, classrooms and empty houses."
He said: "We have never seen anything like this – a large city such as Mosul attacked and in chaos."
He said that in the 11 years following the 2003 US-led overthrow of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein, Christians in Mosul had declined from 35,000 to 3,000 and that "now there is probably no one left."
The archbishop said the attacks on Mosul began last Thursday (5 June) but were initially confined to the western part of the city.
He said: "The army began bombing the affected areas but later in the night between Monday and Tuesday, suddenly the armed forces and the police left Mosul, leaving it to the mercy of the attackers."
The archbishop questioned reports claiming the militants responsible for the attacks are part of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIS), a terrorist organisation linked to Al-Qaeda and in control of key areas of north-west Syria.
He said: "I do not know yet who the group is behind these attacks. Some speak of ISIS, others think other groups are responsible.
"We have to wait until we have a better understanding of the situation. What we do know is that they are extremists, many people have seen them patrolling the streets."
- The Ghetto Walls Are Closing In On Christians In Iraq --- Mosul, The Islamic State “bans Christians From School”
For the first time in history, Iraqi Christians who always had a “high standard of education” in the region, are being deprived of the right to study and cannot attend schools. This represents a further threat to the survival of the minority, not...
- Muslims Take Christians And Slit Their Throats, Hang Their Bodies On Crosses, And Rape Christian Girls In Front Of Their Parents
From Shoebat: In a recent conference, Christian leaders exposed the gruesome murders that happened to Christians in Mosul, which went unreported by the mainstream news. The exposition included a recounting of how ISIS Muslims cut the throats of Christians...
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‘They lined the streets with the decapitated heads of police and soldiers’: Iraqi refugee reveals the horrors of the jihadi takeover as Baghdad vows to fight back The decapitated heads of policeman and soldiers are lining the streets of Iraq’s...
- Iraq: Insurgents Seize Iraqi City Of Mosul As Troops Flee
From the Washington Post: BEIRUT — Insurgents seized control early Tuesday of most of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, including the provincial government headquarters, offering a powerful demonstration of the mounting threat posed by extremists to...
- Islamic Group Beheads Assyrian Priest, Crucifies 14 Year Old Boy In North Iraq
(HT: Clarity & Resolve) Mosul, Iraq (AINA) -- On Monday, October 9, a prominent Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) priest, Fr. Paulos Iskander (Paul Alexander), was kidnapped by an unknown Islamic group. His ransom was posted at either $250,000...
Green Energy
Vatican Radio:
Mosul now emptied of Christians, says Archbishop
(Vatican Radio) Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Chaldean Archbishop Amel Nona, said he thought Mosul's last remaining Christians had left now a city which until 2003 was home to 35,000 faithful.
The Christians are among 500,000 thought to have fled Mosul whose overthrow yesterday is now followed by news today (Wed, 11 June) of militant attacks on the Iraqi city of Tikrit 95 miles north of the capital, Baghdad.
Describing reports of attacks to four churches and a monastery in Mosul, the archbishop, 46, said: "We received threats... [and] now all the faithful have fled the city. I wonder if they will ever return there."
The archbishop, who in the ensuing crisis sought sanctuary in Tal Kayf, a village two miles from Mosul, described how the local community were doing their best to provide for crowds of people flooding out of the city and into the surrounding Nineveh plains, where there are a number of ancient Christian villages.
"Up at 5am yesterday [Tuesday, 10 June] morning we welcomed families on the run and we have tried to find accommodation in schools, classrooms and empty houses."
He said: "We have never seen anything like this – a large city such as Mosul attacked and in chaos."
He said that in the 11 years following the 2003 US-led overthrow of Iraq's President Saddam Hussein, Christians in Mosul had declined from 35,000 to 3,000 and that "now there is probably no one left."
The archbishop said the attacks on Mosul began last Thursday (5 June) but were initially confined to the western part of the city.
He said: "The army began bombing the affected areas but later in the night between Monday and Tuesday, suddenly the armed forces and the police left Mosul, leaving it to the mercy of the attackers."
The archbishop questioned reports claiming the militants responsible for the attacks are part of the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIS), a terrorist organisation linked to Al-Qaeda and in control of key areas of north-west Syria.
He said: "I do not know yet who the group is behind these attacks. Some speak of ISIS, others think other groups are responsible.
"We have to wait until we have a better understanding of the situation. What we do know is that they are extremists, many people have seen them patrolling the streets."
- The Ghetto Walls Are Closing In On Christians In Iraq --- Mosul, The Islamic State “bans Christians From School”
For the first time in history, Iraqi Christians who always had a “high standard of education” in the region, are being deprived of the right to study and cannot attend schools. This represents a further threat to the survival of the minority, not...
- Muslims Take Christians And Slit Their Throats, Hang Their Bodies On Crosses, And Rape Christian Girls In Front Of Their Parents
From Shoebat: In a recent conference, Christian leaders exposed the gruesome murders that happened to Christians in Mosul, which went unreported by the mainstream news. The exposition included a recounting of how ISIS Muslims cut the throats of Christians...
-
‘They lined the streets with the decapitated heads of police and soldiers’: Iraqi refugee reveals the horrors of the jihadi takeover as Baghdad vows to fight back The decapitated heads of policeman and soldiers are lining the streets of Iraq’s...
- Iraq: Insurgents Seize Iraqi City Of Mosul As Troops Flee
From the Washington Post: BEIRUT — Insurgents seized control early Tuesday of most of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, including the provincial government headquarters, offering a powerful demonstration of the mounting threat posed by extremists to...
- Islamic Group Beheads Assyrian Priest, Crucifies 14 Year Old Boy In North Iraq
(HT: Clarity & Resolve) Mosul, Iraq (AINA) -- On Monday, October 9, a prominent Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) priest, Fr. Paulos Iskander (Paul Alexander), was kidnapped by an unknown Islamic group. His ransom was posted at either $250,000...