Tag: Mosul

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

Muslims clean up Mosul monastery desecrated by IS

May 31, 2017 Iraq Islamic State, Mosul

A church in an Iraqi district once terrorised by the Islamic State group has been restored with the help of local Muslims. Residents were horrified after reports claimed Christians were facing abuse even after IS had been chased out of their part of the city. Volunteers said they wanted to . . . Read More

Opposition to Iraqi enclave for non-Muslims voiced by Erbil diocese

March 30, 2017 Iraq Erbil, IDPs, Iraq, Islamic State, Kurds, Mosul, Peshmerga, Saddam Hussein

The Catholic Church in northern Iraq has voiced its opposition to suggestions that an enclave should be created to safeguard non-Muslims fearful of returning to live among their Muslim neighbours. However Stephen Rasche, aid co-ordinator for the Catholic diocese of Erbil in northern Iraq, also said that the likelihood of . . . Read More

Marbles in the midst of ashes: Iraqi boy returns home ‘post ISIS’

March 23, 2017 Iraq Erbil, Iraq, Islamic State, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Refugees

In the midst of ashes Noeh finds his marbles.

While the Iraqi military forces are pushing fighters of self-proclaimed Islamic State out of Mosul, their last stronghold, Foreign Ministers from 68 countries met yesterday in Washington to discuss next steps in defeating the militant group. They also discussed ‘post ISIS’ scenarios such as how to rebuild Mosul, as refugees start . . . Read More

Sunni Arabs ‘helped drive out’ Middle East Christians

March 13, 2017 Iraq, Islamic State, Middle East, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Rape, Sunni, Syria

Amid the push by Iraqi government forces to retake Mosul from Islamic State (IS), some former inhabitants of Christian villages in the Nineveh Plains and northern Syria are refusing to go back because they believe their former Sunni Muslim neighbours were complicit in driving them out, says Middle East analyst . . . Read More

Iraqi families urged to return and rebuild homes in Nineveh Plains

March 3, 2017 Iraq Alqosh, Batnaya, Dohuk, IDPs, Islamic State, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Tel Skuf

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

Iraqi Christian homes ‘looted after IS left’

February 23, 2017 Iraq Iraq, Islamic State, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Qaraqosh

Armed forces fighting Islamic State (IS) near Mosul “looted, damaged and destroyed homes” belonging to displaced Iraqis, including Christians, Human Rights Watch said this week. The New York-based agency used satellite imagery and took witness statements, and concluded that looting and destruction took place in the weeks after IS militants had . . . Read More

IS to cast long shadow over Iraqi civilians

February 17, 2017 Iraq Anbar, Fallujah, Iraq, Islamic State, Mosul

Violence and deep division will continue to imperil Iraqi civilians long after Islamic State (IS) is driven out from the territory it captured, according to a lengthy dispatch from the devastated Iraqi city of Fallujah. After The Caliphate, published on BuzzFeed, quotes a senior official in Fallujah, Taleb al-Hosnawi, warning that . . . Read More

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