Father Emanuel Youkhana reports to Open Doors that; following to the recent outbreak of violence against Christians in Mosul, over 300 families have left the violent city, and “the numbers are expected to increase,” he adds.
An Open Doors worker in Iraq says: “This number of over 300 families that left Mosul is very well possible, the Assyrian church is represented in most of the villages on the Nineveh plain, so they have a good overview.” “In order to put a stop to the killings, we contacted local authorities,” says the worker, who likes to stay anonymous for security reasons, “political parties promise improvements when the parliamentary elections [upcoming March 7] are over, but that does not help those being killed right now.”
Mosul, near the ancient city of Nineveh, is the very picture of where violence and hate reigns. For successive years a long list of abductions, murders and bomb attacks against civilians, of whatever religious background, and Iraqi security forces are being reported. When a Christian gets killed in Mosul, it often is difficult to determine whether this is based on religious grounds.
In December two Christians of 23 and 39 years were killed, The Assyrian church reports, and January shows three Christians being killed in Mosul. February however shows a dramatically increase of violence specifically hitting the Christian community.
In less than ten days, 8 Christians were killed and it is widely believed these assaults are based on religious motives in combination with the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Prayer points