Monthly Archives: October 2016

Although some Christian villages have been reclaimed from IS jihadists by Iraqi forces, many displaced are still waiting to return home as fighting continues. Middle East Online Elite counterterrorism force soldiers raise Iraqi flag outside main church in Bartalla BARTALLA – Between bombs, destruction and fears for the future, returning home…

Despite retaking areas around Mosul, home to country’s Christian minority, prospect of return remains far off By Thibauld MALTERRE and Safa Majeed David Dosha, the priest of the Church of Mart Shmony, located in the Christian Iraqi town of Bartella, about 15 kilometers (10 miles) east of Mosul, inspects the damage on…

By Afp Between bombs, destruction and fears for the future, returning home remains a distant prospect for the Christians of northern Iraq displaced by the Islamic State jihadist group. Iraqi forces are fighting their way toward Mosul to retake it from IS in an operation that is now in its second week, and some Christian…

carey-lodge Carey Lodge Christian Today Journalist Myriam (centre), her sister and her best friend in Erbil, where they fled when ISIS took over Qaraqosh and Mosul.SAT-7 The young Iraqi Christian girl who forgave ISIS after being forced to flee her home in Qaraqosh has said she can’t wait to return home now that the city…

ISIS forced the Christians of the Nineveh plain around Mosul to flee. Now they are returning, but in the key town of Qaraqosh, the fighting rages on. Florian Neuhof QARAQOSH, Iraq—The church’s interior has been blackened by fire, and the altar has…

TOPSHOT – David Dosha, the priest of the Church of Mart Shmony, located in the Christian Iraqi town of Bartella, about 15 kilometres (10 miles) east of Mosul, inspects the damage on October 24, 2016 at the church’s compound after Iraqi forces retook control of the town from jihadists of the Islamic State group. The…

World Watch Monitor As prayers were offered in Syriac in front of the altar of the trashed church of Mart Shmoni in the recently freed town of Bartella, more homes where Christians used to live in Iraq’s north-eastern Nineveh Plain were being claimed back from the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS).…

By Stoyan Zaimov , Christian Post Reporter (Photo: Reuters/Stringer) An Iraqi Christian family fleeing the violence in the Iraqi city of Mosul, arrives at the town of Qaraqush in the province of Nineveh, July 19, 2014. The ancient Christian community of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul had all but fled by Saturday, ending a…

carey-lodge Carey Lodge Christian Today Journalist As news of Christian towns in Iraq being liberated from ISIS rolls in, religious minorities in the country are now in desperate need of help to begin rebuilding their lives, Christian Today has been told. Juliana Taimoorazy, founder and president of the Iraqi Christian Relief Council (ICRC),…

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN mosul christians jordan jomana karadsheh pkg_00010909 Pain still raw for Mosul’s Christians in Jordan 02:52 Amman, Jordan (CNN)Anne Danyale can never go back to Mosul.…

DBR Staff Writer Iraq’s parliament has passed a bill for a complete ban on the sale, import and production of alcohol. The law entitles the state to fine Iraqi dinars 25m ($21,000) for anyone violating the alcohol ban.…

Dr. Josef Olmert Middle East scholar, former peace negotiator, journalist ISIS will be defeated in Mosul amid scenes of unprecedented atrocities, those committed during the fighting and those committed by the Jihadists before and just being exposed. There will be victory cries from the Iraqi government, the Obama…

Church bells ring again in Bartella after its recapture by Iraqi forces, but IS fighters still prowl what is left of a once-proud town near Mosul A Christain militiaman celebrates the recapture of Bartella from IS (Reuters) Bostjan Videmsek’s picture…

EDT By Dow Jones Business News Minority Iraqi lawmakers vowed on Sunday to fight a law passed by the Shiite Muslim-majority parliament to ban the sale, import and production of liquor, an effective prohibition. The vote Saturday will most affect Christians and other minorities who drink alcohol, as…

Today, the Iraqi army, assisted by international forces, is attempting to liberate Mosul and its surrounding Christian villages and neighborhoods. This comes two years late, when the Iraqi Christians, who inhabited Mosul and northern Iraq for thousands of years, were forced to flee. They became refugees in their own country and emigrants in…

The School of Theological Studies at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary presents a lecture Monday night on the Catholic Church in the Middle East and the historical challenges it has faced. Mar Bawai Soro, a Chaldean Catholic Bishop, will speak Monday, Oct. 24 from 7 to 9 p.m. on “The Nestorian Heresy and Islam: Two Trials…

Law banning the sale, import and production of liquor will most affect Christians and others who drink alcohol An Iraqi man walks past a locked liquor store in Baghdad on Oct. 23, 2016, a day after parliament voted to ban the sale, import and production of alcohol. Photo: sabah arar/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images…

By Rudaw Photo of Iraqi forces on the outskirts of Qaraqosh on Saturday. ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – On the sixth day of the Mosul offensive, the Iraqi army is advancing on the largely Christian town of Qaraqosh, also known as Bakhdida, in the Hamdaniya district southeast of Mosul on one of three active frontlines on…

FILE — In this Sept. 11, 2007, file photo, a man looks at bottles of alcohol on sale in liquor store in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq’s parliament passed a law forbidding the import, production or selling of alcoholic beverages. The bill passed late Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016, imposes a fine of up to 25 million Iraqi…

© James André, France 24 | Christian militia men return to reclaim their hometown of Bartella, Iraq Video by James ANDRE , Jonathan WALSH , Amar Mohammed Sahib AL HAMEEDAWI by FRANCE 24 FRANCE 24 brings you an exclusive report from the newly liberated Christian city of…