Monthly Archives: May 2015

ARA News Syriac women will join Kurdish female fighters to combat ISIS terrorists: Leader Shamiran Shimon, head of the Syriac Women’s Union (SWU) in Syria. Photo: ARA News Qamishli, Syria – Shamiran Shimon, head of the Syriac Women’s Union (SWU) in Syria…

Francisco BravoMay Christian Beheads Jihadist – In the northeast of Syria, a Christian fighter of Syriac confession beheaded this week a jihadist of Islamic state group. A fighter of Syriac confession beheaded this week in the northeast of Syria a jihadist of Islamic State Group (ISIS), reported on Friday an NGO.…

By Ray Nothstine , Christian Post Contributor Yousif Ibrahim during 60 Minutes interview Holding out in one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world, located in Iraq’s Northern Ninevah Plains region, three monks and a half dozen students vow to stay put despite the possibility of being overrun by ISIS fighters.…

Agence France Presse BEIRUT: A Syrian Christian fighter has beheaded an ISIS militant to avenge people “executed” by the jihadis in northeastern Syria, an activist group said Friday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group, said the incident took place Thursday in Hasakeh province, where ISIS holds large areas of the countryside.…

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights claims Assyrian fighter captured and murdered Isis jihadi in Hasakeh province Isis militants in Syria: Hasakeh province, near the the Turkish border, has seen fierce fighting between Kurdish and Isis forces. Photograph: Medyan Dairieh/Zuma Press/Corbis…

ISIS | Militias recapture ancient Assyrian villages but find churches destroyed By Mindy Belz In Syria, an unheralded combination of Kurdish and Assyrian Christian fighters in recent weeks managed to recapture a string of villages along the Khabur River from the so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS).…

The news from the Middle East has become so grim that I am always looking for a bright spot. So, on a recent trip to Iraqi Kurdistan, it was a relief and surprise to come across an upbeat story in an unexpected place: a church in Irbil that houses Christian refugees from northern Iraq who…

Father Douglas Bazi with Christian refugee children in Erbil, Iraq. The news from the Middle East has become so grim I am always looking for a bright spot. So, on a recent trip to Iraqi Kurdistan, it was a relief and a surprise to come across an upbeat story in an unexpected place: a church…

By Gianluca Mezzofiore , Arij Limam Ashur Iraq blown up US army on patrol by the ancient arches in Ashur in 2008(US Army) The Islamic State (Isis) has allegedly blown up the Unesco world heritage site and former Assyrian capital of Ashur in Iraq’s Salahuddin province, according to multiple sources.…

Iraqi Sunni men who defected from ISIL to join Iraq government forces take position in Amriyat Al Fallujah, in Iraq’s Anbar province, on May 26, 2015. Haidar Hamdani/AFP Photo Baghdad // Iraqi forces seized two districts of Ramadi yesterday as they prepared to retake the city from ISIL.…

Christian families cautiously returning to area of northern Syria John Burger Christian Aid Program Northern Iraq Aleteia has obtained this photo of St. Mary’s Assyrian Church in the northeastern Syrian village of Tal Nasri.…

by Louis Raphael I Sako* From May 12 to 24 last, Mar Sako made a pastoral visit to Tehran and Urmia, in Iran, meeting Christian and Muslim political and religious figures. His Beatitude stressed the historic presence of Christians in Iran, a presence that precedes Islam. He invited the faithful to “stay close to your…

By John Newton (Original interview by Oliver Maksan) PRIESTS in Syria have appealed for prayers for kidnapped priest Father Jacques Mourad and his colleague as uncertainty about their fate mounts. Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need a week after the abduction, Fr…

Agencies BEIRUT: Kurdish forces have driven ISIS from more than a dozen Assyrian Christian villages that the jihadis had captured in northeastern Syria, a monitor said Wednesday. “Following a 10-day offensive, Kurdish fighters took control early this week of 14 Assyrian villages that ISIS had controlled since February,” said Rami Abdel-Rahman,…

This Assyrian church in one of the villages was allegedly damaged by IS Islamic State fighters have been driven out of Assyrian Christian villages in Syria that they seized in February, activists say. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Kurdish fighters had retaken…

Agence France Presse BEIRUT: Kurdish forces have driven ISIS from more than a dozen Assyrian Christian villages that the jihadis had captured in northeastern Syria, an activist group said Wednesday. “Following a 10-day offensive, Kurdish fighters took control early this week of 14…

A Kurdish fighter holds a machine gun on the outskirts of the Syrian town of Kobani, also known as Ain al-Arab, on March 30, 2015. (© AFP) Kurdish forces in Syria have managed to take control of 14 Assyrian Christian villages that had been held by the Takfiri ISIL terrorists since February.…

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD — Islamic State extremists unleashed a wave of suicide attacks targeting the Iraqi army in western Anbar province, killing at least 17 troops in a major blow to government efforts to dislodge the militants from the sprawling Sunni heartland, an Iraqi military spokesman said Wednesday.…

The Assyrian flag. (AFP/Mohammed Sawaf) Kurdish forces in Syria have managed to take control of 14 Assyrian Christian villages that had been held by Daesh since February. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday that the Kurdish fighters engaged the terrorists in a ten-day operation to liberate the villages.…

By Jonathan Merritt, Religion News Service When asked to describe the essence of the Christian message, Mother Teresa would often hold up a child’s hand and recite Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:40: “Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” She would then jiggle the child’s…