Iraqi Christians fear returning home, wary of Shia militia
By Lisa Stevens –
BARTELLA: Only a fraction of Christian residents has returned to the northern Iraqi town of , two years since it was liberated from Islamic State militants.
Many fear intimidation by the town‘s population of Shabak, a Shiite Muslim ethnic group that dominates the militias now running Bartella. The tensions are a sign of the sectarian splits around northern in the wake of the defeat of the Islamic State group.
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The large cross in Bartella‘s main square is one of few overt signs this town was historically Christian.
Nearby, a massive billboard shows Shiite Muslim martyrs alongside a photo of ‘s Ayatollah Khomeini. Posters of Iranian-backed Shiite militiamen killed in fighting with the Islamic State group hang on streets all around the city, along with banners to revered historical Shiite saints