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Two More Churches Bombed

Two churches (alTahira Orthodox and the al-Bishara Catholic) were bombed today in Mosul. Many children were injured at the school that is adjacent and belong to the al-Tahira Assyrian Orthodox Church. The two churches were damaged. One girl, baby Teba Sa’ad Yunis, eight days young was killed in the attack.

Church Bombed

A bomb exploded near the Church of Mar Afram in Wadi al-‘Ayn in Mosul al-Jadeeda (New Mosul). The bomb caused great damage to the church and the home of the priest attached to the church property. The church is not suitable for praying any longer. Another bomb ripped through the Santa Teresa Monastery, but none of the six nuns that live in it were hurt; however, the monastery’s reception hall was damaged severely, in addition to other parts of the structure.

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Human Rights Watch Report

A new report by Human Rights Watch, "On Vulnerable Ground - Violence against Minority Communities in Nineveh Province's Disputed Territories", describes the precarious situation of minority groups in Nineveh. Read more.

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Another Church Bombed

The Church of Virgin Fatima was bombed in Mosul. The attacks came even though Assyrian Christian (also known as Chaldean and/or Syriac) sources warned of the impending attacks days ago. Assyrian sources received warnings of the impending attacks 5 days ago through text messages and immediately passed the information on to U.S. forces. Under new security arrangements, U.S. forces were unable to act themselves but ensured the Iraqi military was notified.

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Special Report: Church Bombings
in Iraq Since 2004

59 Assyrian churches have been bombed in Iraq since June 26, 2004, 40 in Baghdad, 13 in Mosul, 5 in Kirkuk and 1 in Ramadi. The following is a list of the bombings. Read the report here.

Assyrian International News Agency

Seventh Christian church bombed in Iraq

BAGHDAD, July 13 (UPI) -- A Christian Church in Iraq was bombed Monday, injuring three children in the latest violent act against a Christian house of worship, Iraqi officials said.

An Iraqi Interior Ministry official said Monday's bombing -- the seventh in recent days -- occurred when a car bomb exploded and damaged the church in Mosul, CNN reported.

Six churches in the Baghdad area were bombed during the weekend, killing four people and wounding 32 others, officials said.

"This is going to make the Christians scared," Bishop Shlemon Warduni, who was in his office in a Christian church in Baghdad bombed Sunday, told the Los Angeles Times . "They will be scared to come to services, and maybe more will leave the country."

Meanwhile, an explosive device detonated beside a convoy in which U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Christopher Hill was traveling in southern Iraq Sunday. No injuries were reported in Hill's convoy in Dhi Qar province when the small improvised device exploded, U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Susan Ziadeh said.

UPI

7 Iraqi Churches Bombed

BAGHDAD, Iraq, JULY 13, 2009 ( Zenit.org ).- Seven Christian churches were bombed in new wave of attacks in Baghdad, leaving at least 4 dead and 35 injured.
An explosion this morning near Our Lady of Fatima Church in eastern Baghdad marked the seventh bombing of Chaldean and Orthodox Churches since Saturday. The previous bombings took place at two churches in the western part of the city Saturday night, three churches Sunday afternoon, and one Sunday evening. Aid to the Church in Need reported that St. Mary's Chaldean Church was damaged by a car bomb Sunday evening that exploded as parishioners were leaving Mass. Other attacks targeted St. George's Church and St. Joseph's Church. Most of the church buildings sustained damage. The aid agency reported that the continued violence against Christians has already forced 200,000 to flee to neighboring countries, while some 50,000 have taken refuge in northern Iraq. Thus, the Christian community in the region has dropped from an estimated 1 million in 2003 to less than 400,000 currently.

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Two Sisters Murdered in Mosul

Two Christians, Lamya' Sabeeh and her sister, were killed in al-Qahira quarters of Mosul when unknown assailant/s stormed their home and attacked the peaceful family. The mother of the two girls was seriously injured as well from repeated stabbing. The ssailant/s then left a bomb in their house, which exploded as the police arrived. This crime occurred as many Christian families began to return to Mosul after last months forced exodus of Christians from the city.

Car Bomb Kills Four in Mosul

A car bomb exploded Wednesday in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing four civilians as the local government acknoweledged it has yet to persuade frightened Christians to return to the homes they fled, police said. A police officer in Ninevah province said the bomb went off in a parked car in a predominantly Sunni area of this city, where violence has continued against Christians and other religious minorities despite months of U.S. and Iraqi military operations to chase out extremists. Mosul officials said few of the nearly 10,000 Christians chased from their homes earlier this month are eturning to the city, despite government pledges of financial support and protection.

In a statement to France Press, Jawdat Isma'eel, Director of the Ministry of Migration and Immigration office in Mosul, stated that the number of Christian families that fled Mosul has risen to 1307 families Coptreal. Click here to read the report. Meanwhile, the Iraqi Minister of Defense, Abd Al-Qadir Al-Ubaidi, stated in a meeting with notables and
with political parties and families representatives in Mosul that 1894 Christian families have fled Mosul.

One of the gates of the Church of Miskenta on the east (right) side of Mosul city was damaged due to an explosion of a bomb that was placed near it. Worth mentioning that until today the Christians of the east side of Mosul city were not inflicted with the recent wave of emigration and displacement.

The McClatchy Newspaper Washington Bureau reported that thousands of Christians are fleeing their homes in Mosul after a spate of killings this week that left 12 dead.

The Associated Press reported that 3,000 Christians have fled Mosul in the past week
alone.

CNN reported that at least 900 Christian families have fled Mosul in the past week terrified by a series of killings and threats by Muslim extremists ordering them to convert to Islam or face possible death. It reported that 13 Christians have been slain in the past two weeks.

The BBC – Arabic reported that about 1,000 Christian families have fled Mosul in the past 24 hours due the bombing of some of their homes and the killings of 11 Christians in 10 days. BBC Arabic Meanwhile, the Middle East On Line reported that the Governor of Nineveh Governorate Duraid Kashmoola stated that there has been a mass emigration (nizooh) of at least 932 Christian families from Mosul within 10 days after the bombing of three homes belonging to Christians in al-Sukkar quarters. He said: 500 families fled on Friday and 432 families on Saturday. He stressed the killing of 11 Christians at least in the past 10 days.

The latest statistics on the Christian families that fled Mosul to the Nineveh Plains towns and villages from 10/6 to 10/11/2008 due to the latest killing of Christians included the followings (keep in mind that families are moving around): Baghdeda 138; Karamlesh 128; Bartella 72 families.

Jihad Waged on Christians in Mosul

Some forty Christian families have fled the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Friday, bringing the number of Christian families who fled the city over the past three days to 295, a press spokesman for a political party with links to the Iraqi Christian community in Nineveh province has said. "Due to death theats by insurgents some 295 Christian families fled the city to areas around the city," a spokesman for the Assyrian Democratic Movement told the Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

The source said that the living conditions for the families were very poor, and many lacked basic health services. Earlier a security source said that some 25 families fled Mosul on Wednesday followed by 50 families on Thursday for the fear of being targeted by armed groups. According to Khaled Abdel-Sattar, a spokesman for Iraqi security forces in the area, five Christians have been killed in the past few days. Iraqi Christians are one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. Large parts of the Iraqi Christian community emigrated to Syria and Jordan following the US-led invasion.

Christian groups have also recently protested the removal of article 50 of the provincial elections law, which passed through the Iraqi parliament last week. The article had guaranteed Christians certain rights of representation in local assemblies. Also in Mosul, two civilians were killed and another twelve were injured when two bombs in two plastic bags were detonated simultaneously in a crowded area inside the city. Separately, US forces in Iraq announced on its website the arrest of eight militants in Mosul. Mosul is located some 400 kilometres north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. At least 10 people were killed and another 20 were injured in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, al-Arabiya TV channel reported. The blast took place in al-Dawra district south of Baghad. Related Story

4 More Christians Murdered in Mosul

An Iraqi military source said four Christians were killed in two separate attacks on Friday, recording a rising wave of attacks against the religious minority in the northern volatile city.

“Two gunmen driving Opel came across two Christian individuals in al-Wihda district, north Mosul, and shot them dead after asking for identification papers,” an Iraqi army source said.The source noted the gunmen “shouted there is no place for Christians in Mosul”.Meanwhile, the same source said “two gunmen killed two Christians in al-Mithaq district, east Mosul”.

Waves of attacks have seen a spike in the northern city of Mosul, forcing a number of their families to leave the city for its northern suburbs in the lush valley of Nineveh.

The Assyrians are affiliated with different Churches and since the U.S. led invasion in March 2003, they have been subjected to severe acts of violence and as they form the weakest link in the Iraqi mosaic, they've been continuously ignored and marginalized by the local and foreign authorities which are governing Iraq at present in addition to being obscured by the media.

Jalal Mousa (38 years old) was shot and killed near his home in al-Noor Quarters in Mosul.

In al-Tahrir neighborhood in eastern Mosul, gunmen stormed a pharmacy and killed assistant pharmacist Khalid Jirgis al-Sammak.

Unknown gunmen killed Amjad Hadi Boutros and his son Housam while they were working in a house during construction. The victims were residents of al-Sukar neighborhood in Mosul.

Ziad Kamal, a disabled 25-year-old in a wheelchair was killed at 10:00 a.m. this morning when a group of unknown gunmen riddled his body with bullets while he was inside his auto parts shop in al-Karama quarters in Mosul. The victim's family is originally from Mosul but they had moved to Bartilla lately due to the violence in the area.

Unidentified gunmen killed Hazim Toma Yousif, an Assyrian man in his 40s, inside his family clothing store in the old souk of Bab al-Sarai, central Mosul, before they escaped to an unknown place. "A gunman stormed the store owned by the victim, an Assyrian Christian, and opened fire at him from his gun he had in the crowded souk," the police source said, not giving more details.

Ivan Enwiya, a 15 years old young Assyrian, was killed this afternoon (Saturday) by unknown gunmen near his home, beside AL-Zahra mosque in Tahrir district in Mosul.

Bashar Nafi'a was murdered 10:00 a.m. at his workplace according to a priest of the Syriac Orthodox Church in Mosul. No other details are available.

Jihad Maskoni, his son Marwan (student of Engineering College) and his daughter Milad (student of Pharmacy college) were killed in front of the Personal Statute Court in Karrada neighborhood.

A Nineveh Governorate police source who asked to remain anonymous said that a Christian, whose father was killed a week ago, was killed by an unknown armed group in al-Bakr neighborhood in eastern Mosul. It's been noted that an Iraqi army checkpoint is located 200 meters from the scene of the crime. The source added that: "The gunmen were on foot and they shot the man dead before they fled the scene". The names of the two victims were not released and the motives behind this latest crime remain unknown.

Latest reports indicate that the victim is Rayan Nafi' Jamoo'aa, whose father was kidnapped and murdered earlier.

Nafi' Bashir Jamoo'aa was kidnapped and killed in Mosul. It is not yet known whether or not a ransom was paid.

Police found the body of Dr. Tariq Qattan (65) east of Mosul. The source stated that the upper body and
head reflected signs of beating and gun wounds. Dr. Qattan was abducted on August 24.

Haytham Khidir was murdered in his lathe shop in the al-Sina'aa quarters in Mosul. The deceased brother, Potros Khidir, is a monk in Germany.

Mazin Girgis Yaqou Aboona, a 34 year old Assyrian man, who used to sell household items out on the street was attacked by gunmen in a car, they surrounded him, stole all that he had, then riddled his body with bullets and fled the scene. The crime took place on Wednesday July 09 in al-Dargazliyya neighborhood in Mosul.

When Mazin's mother heard shouts of neighbors she ran out to find the body of her son in the street and as she hugged him, the shock was too powerful that she fell dead next to him.

Unidentified armed men abducted two high school female students in Telkaif district of Nineveh Province. The two girls were on their way to school to take the final examination.

Children Kidnapped, Killed & Crucified to Instill Terror

A Canadian parliamentary committee studying the persecution of religious minorities worldwide heard that since the Iraq war began in 2003, about 12 children, many as young as 10, have been kidnapped and killed, then nailed to makeshift crosses near their homes to terrify and torment their parents. One infant was snatched, decapitated, burned and left on his mother's doorstep. The committee was told that one in every three Iraqi ChaldoAssyrian Christians is a refugee.

Monqedh Elias Essa was assassinated by unknown gunmen in al-Yarmouk neighborhood (al-Mansour district) in central Baghdad. The victim was riddled with bullets and the motive for the criminal act remains unknown. The victim, born in1967, was married and the father of two girls and a boy.

Priest Shot Dead

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Gunmen shot dead an Assyrian Orthodox priest near his house in central Baghdad's Karrada neighbourhood on Saturday, security officials told AFP.

Youssef Adel, a priest with Saint Peter's Church, was killed by gunmen travelling in a car around noon (0900 GMT), they said. A medical official said Adel's body had been brought to Ibn Nafis hospital in central Baghdad.

Christians in Iraq have come under frequent attack in recent months, with clerics kidnapped and churches bombed. Last month, the body of Paulos Faraj Rahho, Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul, was found in a shallow grave in the northern city two weeks after he was kidnapped.

A terrorist group tried to kidnap Rani Yousif Hanna (b. 1983) as he left St. Thomas Assyrian Church in al-Noor quarters in Mosul; however, he resisted and they shot him dead. Rani and his family fled to Syria in 2005 because of the escalation of terrorism against the Christians. He returned couple of weeks ago to take care of few personal issues and was planning to go back to Syria again.

Zaid Michael Atto was killed when a bomb exploded in central Baghdad.

Bishop Found Dead

The kidnapped Archbishop Mar Poulos Faraj Rahho, Chaldean Catholic Church bishop of Mosul, was found dead north the city of Mosul.

Bishop Abducted And Three Others Killed

Mosul (AsiaNews) – Mar Poulos Faraj Rahho, Chaldean bishop of Mosul, was abducted today after he celebrated the Via Crucis . Three people who were with him were killed. Mgr Rabban al-Qas, bishop of Arbil, told AsiaNews about the event after getting the news directly from Mosul.

KDP Peshmerga Abduct Deacon John Khoshaba

At 6:30pm, on Sunday 17 February 2008 in the town of Telkepe (Nineveh Province), Deacon John Khoshaba was abducted from his home by members of the KDP peshmerga loyal to Kurdish President Masoud Barzani.

Even though Telkepe does not form part of the Kurdish region, Deacon John was transferred to Sekrene, a high security prison facility near Sarsink in Kurdish controlled northern Iraq. He is charged with criticising through his website, the Kurdish authorities and their Finance Minister, Sarkis Aghajan.

He was also warned against writing about the corruption and sex scandals of his Bishop Ishaq Khamis and his loyalty to the Kurdish authorities.

Yet Another Church Bombed

According to Aswat al-Iraq (Voices of Iraq), A car bomb detonated near the Church of al-Tahira (The Pure) in al-Shifa district, western Mosul, leaving one policeman and a woman slightly injured. The blast caused material damage to the external wall of the church and smashed its windows and doors, said a police who requested anonymity.

Another Cathedral and Church Bombed

Two churches were bombed in central and northern Kirkuk: The first at the Cathedral of Qalb al-Yasoo' (Jesus's Heart) of the Chaldean Catholic Church and the second at Mar Afram Church of the Syriac Orthodox Church in al-Umal (Workers) Square. Three people were wounded. According to reports, a third church has been bombed, but no details are available.

Monasteries, Churches and a Cathedral Bombed in Coordinated Attacks

Today, several explosions targeted Churches and monasteries of different Assyrian Christian denominations in Mosul and Baghdad. The targeted churches and monasteries were: In Baghdad, Mar Giwargis (St. George) in al-Ghadeer quarters and the Chaldean Nuns Monastery of the Daughters of Mary in al-Zaafaraniya. A Greek Orthodox Church in Al-Tayaran Square was also a target.

In Mosul, the bombs targeted the Catherine Monastery of the Chaldean denomination, St. Mary's Cathedral of the Ancient Church of the East in al-Nour quarters (al-Shuhada' previously), Mar Poulus (St. Paul) Church in al-Sa'aa quarters, the Chaldean Nuns Monastery of the Daughters of Mary in al-Nour quarters and the Miskinta Church in central Mosul.

The body of Fadi Michael Hanani Aolo was found in the outskirts of the Assyrian town of Baghdeda. It was established that the body has been left there for about four days. The circumstances are still very sketchy. Fadi did not return home since he left four days ago after he received a phone call.

The family of Saalim Yousif Karash (originally from Baghdeda) was attacked while inside their own home and during daylight (2:00 p.m.) by an armed group in Zayoona quarters in Baghdad. They hit the father severely until he was unconscious. One of his two girls, Lena, who was inside the house was afraid of being raped, beaten or kidnapped, threw herself from the balcony of their apartment on the fourth floor. Then the armed gang stole most of what they gathered and left. The mother was hysterical and had a nervous breakdown. The father is in critical condition in local hospital while the daughter underwent surgery for a crack in her skull and she is still unconscious in the hospital. The other two sons and one daughter are safe since they were not at home when the attack occurred.

According to alarabiya.net, female Christian students faced numerous threats on their first day at Basra University from students that appear to be members of Islamic militias. The female students were given the option of wearing the Islamic veil or face death while the male students were told to raise their beards in the Islamic fashion. The alarabiya.net referred to an article on December 9, 2007 in the Sunday Times about the issue.

Pamphlets and notices were floating all over Mosul University threatening Christian female students from not wearing the Islamic dress code. The Islamic groups gave the Christian students three days to comply or face death.

A groups of eight men kidnapped Usama Fareed (age 45) from his home. Then, his sister Maysoon Fareed (age 42) was taken from her work place as well. An hour later, the brother and sister were found dead in the quarters of al-Jamhooriya (3 km from town center) with more than 11 bullets in their heads.

Unidentified gunmen killed a Christian girl in the area of Nabi Younes (Prophet Jonah) in central Mosul on Sunday, a police official said. "Gunmen in a vehicle opened drive-by fire at the 24-year-old Christian young girl at al-Nabi Younes market, killing her instantly," Brig. Muhammad Abdul-Aziz al-Wakkaa, the director of Nineveh police operations room said. "The girl's body was removed to the morgue in Mosul," Wakkaa said, not giving further details on the incident.

An explosion in al-Karada district in Baghdad claimed the lives of three residents from Baghdeda. The three victims are Haitham Sabeeh Toma (b. 1975) and a father of two small children, Amer Aziz Hashko and his sister. Amer and his sister were in the capital city preparing for his own wedding, which was to take place in three days.

Luisa Matti Jameel was killed in al-Khalis area north of Baghdad. Luisa was on her way back home to Baghdeda (in Nineveh plains) from Baghdad.

Close to 2,500 Assyrian students that live in the Assyrian villages of Qaraqosh (Baghdeda), Bartilla, Karemlish, Ba'ashiqa, Bahzaneh, Tel-Kaif (Tel-Kepeh), Tel-Esquf, Batnaya, and Sharafiya, expressed their fears of not being able to continue their higher studies in Mosul University and other technical, academic and art institutions due to the continuous acts of violence, threats and harassment, which are exposed on the roads and highways leading to Mosul. Few months back eight Assyrian university students from Baghdeda were abducted as they were on their way to Mosul. Parents fear for their children's lives and make the decision to keep their children home. A number of students said that they had tried to enroll in the universities and colleges of Arbil and Dohuk (Nohadra) but they were faced with many hurdles, red tape, unusual local laws and measures which imposed in these institutions which aren't found in other universities and colleges such as students' hosting and restricted admissions because they're considered not to be part of the so-called Kurdish region (North of Iraq-Occupied Assyria).

Khaled Giwargis Sako (b. 1971) was killed in al-Hadba' neighborhood in Mosul. He was a member in St. Paul's Church group. The victim had returned home from work when several shots riddled his body in front of his house. Sako was married and father to three children, a boy in 4th grade, a daughter in 1st grade and another daughter in kindergarten.

A group in police uniforms who claimed to be from the Ministry of Interior approached Behnan Rehana al- Bijwaya, on September 27, 2007. The group abducted him and demanded a ransom of $250,000 that was reduced to $50,000 Dollars. However, after they stole his car, his body was found on October 22, 2007 with apparent and visible torturing marks. The victim was 45 years old and married.

Fawzi Aukania Apas (b. 1968) was killed in Mosul. Unknown gunmen riddled the victim with bullets while he was driving his car from Arbil. Apas was married and he was a father of five children.

Ayman Abd-Allah Ishaq Hanna, son of Fr. Abd-Allah Hanna, priest of St. Shmouni Syriac Orthodox Church in Ba'asheeqa was gunned down as he was returning Saturday from Dohuk (Nohadra) to his hometown.

Najah Salman al-Los (b. 1960) left his home in New Baghdad quarters to go to work in Dora quarters. He was attacked, fired at with several bullets and murdered while driving on the highway. Al-Los was married with five children

Miyssar Mansour Hanna Rahel was abducted by unknown gunmen on Thursday (Oct. 11) in Baghdad. He was found dead on Friday (Oct. 12). He is originally from the northern Iraq town of Karamlish. The victim had a brother named Malik Mansour and he was also murdered in Baghdad few months ago.

Bassam Yousif Elias al-Khadim was kidnapped after completing his service at the al-Tahira Church. Later, his body was found in one of Mosul's quarters.

Franco Issac was murdered today. No details available yet.

Samir Estephan Micah Doda was murdered today. No details available yet.

At around 1:00 p.m. local time, a horrific car bomb explosion shook the Assyrian town of Baghdeda (around 13 miles northeast Mosul). According to the preliminary reports, a suicide bomber in a pickup truck caused the explosion and it happened inside the market facing al-Rafidain bank in the town's center. Evan Yousif Zora and Rabie Sabah Shandar were killed in addition to three unidentified policemen. The estimated 15 wounded were transferred to the hospital with one of them being in a serious condition.

The explosion of a car bomb at a checkpoint between Mosul and Arbil on Wednesday killed Matthew Shamoun Boutros.

Assyrian Christian families that had fled Dora district affirmed that their homes were looted by armed groups. Security forces didn't take any action to stop the looting. It is believed that between 125-150 homes were robbed and looted of all their contents, including electric appliances, furniture, carpets, etc. In addition to that iron windows and doors were removed from the houses, while more than 100 houses have been occupied by strangers without a prior agreement with their legitimate owners nor their knowledge.

The Assyrian Democratic Movement announced that Joseph Abd Ibrahim Hermiz (b. 1986) was murdered Friday at noontime in al-Qadisiya al-Thaniya behind the Public Clinic. No further details were available.

Baher Sabah Kallo (b. 1975) was killed in Baghdad. He was a lecturer at Baghdad University. Kallo was abducted and a ransom was paid in exchange for his release, still the abductors murdered him.

Jeffrey Ramzi Boutros (28) was killed in al-Mansour neighborhood of the al-Dawoodi district in Baghdad. Jeffrey was an only child to his parents.

Hizni Khadida al-Margahi, Farouq Giwargis from the Naf Kindal village and Nabil Yousif from the Leevo village were killed when a car exploded in the Zammar district near al- Rabi'aa area as they were on duty in a military regiment of the Iraqi National Guard.

Unidentified gunmen forced themselves into the house of two brothers Falah and Sabah Nasouri 'Alka in al-Karrada district of Baghdad. The two brothers were brutally attacked before being killed. Falah died following a savage beating and torture while Sabah was shot. Falah, 52, was a pharmacist who ran al- Rabab pharmacy in al-Karrada district while Sabah, 55, was an entrepreneur and worked in trade.

Unidentified gunmen in three cars approached Thamer Najib Azzouz in an attempt to abduct him in al- Hadbaa' district in Mosul. Azzouz refused to leave his family and two little children in order to yield to the gunmen's request, and when he fought the kidnappers, they shot and killed him instantly then they fled the area.

Ayad Allawi's Deputy Accuses Kurds Of Murders In Nineveh

Osama al-Nujaifi, a deputy of the National Iraqi bloc led by Ayad Allawi, accused the Kurds of murders against a number of citizens in the Nineveh Governorate. The deputy said that the Kurdish forces and their members in the Iraqi army are committing murders and terrorizing the people while they stand to guard the Kurdish parties headquarters. He accused the Kurdish Alliance of following a Kurdification policy. He added that there are districts such as Sinjar and Zommar that follow the area of Tel-afar as well as Telkaif,
Hamdaniya and Sheikhan, which are administratively part of Nineveh Governorate, but immediately after 2003 Iraq War the Kurds moved into those areas and began to run them directly.

Kurdish Peshmerga Murder Another Assyrian

Fadi Nazar Habash was killed when a force of Kurdish forces "Peshmerga" fired towards his car while he was driving on al-Hizam Street in Baghdeda

Matti Boulos Markus Moma, an Assyrian from Baghdeda, was kidnapped couple days ago. The kidnappers demanded for $20,000 ransom to release him. The money was raised and paid by his wife. Still, Matti was murdered and his body was found today Friday.

Amira Abd al-Massih Hermiz from the village of Telesquf was killed today in her home in Samarra. The victim was born in 1970, married to Jalal Shaya Marogi and a mother of 7 children the eldest 16 years old and the youngest a baby of two months. Details about the circumstances of her death aren't available yet.

Priest, Son and Two Relatives Kidnapped

In the northern city of Kirkuk, the Rev. George Atta, a Chaldean Christian priest, was kidnapped with his son, Louise Atta, and two relatives about 11:30 a.m. Thursday by unknown gunmen, according to an anonymous police source.

Atta had recently fled Baghdad's mainly Sunni Dora neighborhood. The Rev. Louise Sakis, a high-ranking Chaldean clergyman, said the kidnappers are demanding about $160,000 ransom.

An armed group attacked al-Mashtal area in Baghdad near the Hydro Company, opening fire on shop owners yesterday. Some shop owners were killed while others were abducted. Fathalla Hazem Batti was shot three times and killed. The victim was born in 1967, married with two children, Marios (3yrs and 6 months) and Albert (1 yr and 9 months), and he lived in the area of Palestine Street. Eyewitnesses mentioned that up to eight people were killed in this attack.

P.S. al-Mashtal area has a high concentration of Christians.

Mouwafaq Philip Boutros was murdered by a group of armed terrorists who asked him whether he was a Sunni Muslim, but when he answered, "I'm Christian" his body was riddled with bullets. The victim was 58 years old, married, and had three children. He had left his home in Baghdad three days ago and was murdered in al-Saidiya district.

Islamic Emirate of Mosul Threaten To Behead Christians

A statement by an Islamic group that calls itself the Islamic Emirate of Mosul threatened to kidnap or kill all Christians whether Students or employees in Mosul University if they did not leave the university campus in three days. According to the statement that was posted on city streets, the Islamic group threatened as well all Christians living in Mosul to leave the city within three days or the group will behead any Christian who will remain in the city. The Islamic Emirate of Mosul had killed four Christians living in the al-Sa'aa and al-Yarmook quarters of the right littoral of the city after they were kidnapped and their
bodies were found in the Wadi 'Aaqab cemetery. The group had killed as well two Christians who arrived from Hamdaniya District to Mosul where they worked. The said group murdered another female Christian employee of the Iraqi Central Bank in Mosul.

Sa'eed Elias Sam'aan Estephan Sheekho was murdered in Baghdad as he left his home in al-Za'afaraniya district. The victim was married and father of six children. He was buried in his hometown of Baghdeda today.

Sources in the Spanish Foreign Ministry said yesterday that an Iraqi Christian employee in the Spanish embassy in Baghdad was found dead with three of her family members. The Iraqi Christian woman who had been working in the embassy for 10 years disappeared last Friday and was thought to be abducted. The four bodies were found dead with gun shot wounds on July 01, 2007.. The Spanish sources mentioned that this incident has nothing to do with Spain but every thing to do with the violence in Iraq

Aamer Bahjat Mikha was murdered Wednesday on the highway between Mosul and Baghdad when an unidentified militant group stopped his car and shot him. Mikha was married with three young children, a boy in primary school and two little girls.

Unidentified gunmen killed two members of the Assyrian's Patriotic Union of Beth Nahrain, Sahir Yusuf Istayfo (b. 1958) and Lewi Sleman Numan (b. 1986), in a drive-by shooting in central Mosul, police said.
Source: Reuters

An unidentified armed group kidnapped eight Assyrian Christian students and teachers returning home to the Nineveh Plain from Mosul university Wednesday afternoon. The students of the Nineveh Plains travel on church provided community buses that transport them daily to school. One of the buses returning to Qaraqosh (Bakhdeda), one of the largest Assyrian Christian towns in the Nineveh Plain, was pursued by eight vehicles that surrounded and eventually stopped it. Eight people, among them a number of University professors, were taken to an unknown location. It is noteworthy that the abduction took place directly in front of a police stations as several eyewitnesses stated.

This came one day after another Qaraqosh native was killed in Mosul by an armed group.

Church Looted and to be Turned into a Mosque

The situation for Iraq's Christian Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) is approaching a crisis level. On June 3rd an Assyrian priest and three deacons were gunned down in Mosul and their car booby trapped so that their bodies could not be recovered (AINA 6-3-2007). On May 28 an Assyrian couple that worked for the US embassy in Baghdad was killed by an al Qaeda-led group (AINA 6-2-2007).

An Iraqi government employee familiar with the situation, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of being killed, told AINA that today St. Jacob Church Near the Asia Neighborhood (Hay Asya) in Dora was attacked and the Christian guards killed, the church was looted and will be turned into a mosque. St. John the Baptist Church near the Hay Al-Athoriyeen (Assyrian quarter) was also looted.

Muslim groups, mainly affiliated to al-Qaeda but also Shiites of Muqtada al-Sadr, have moved into Assyrian neighborhoods in Baghdad and begun imposing Shari'a (Islamic law) on Assyrians. Shari'a demands that Christians pay the jizya, the poll tax demanded by the Koran which all Christians and Jews must pay in exchange for being allowed to live and practice their faith as well as being entitled to 'Muslim protection' from outside aggression.

The attacks on Assyrians, which began in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad in early March, when al-Qaeda moved in and began imposing Islamic law (AINA 4-17-2007, 3-18-2007), have now spread to Yarmouk, Qadisiya, and Mansour, where the jizya is being demanded.

According to the government employee, in the Hay al-Amiriya quarter a Sunni "Amir" (prince) demanded the car belonging to an Assyrian brother and sister who are orphans; their priest advised them to give up the car, which they did. The "prince" later returned and officially asked for the girl's hand in marriage. The girl had to go into hiding. In a report by the Catholic News Agency (AINA 5-18-2007), Mar Addai II, the Patriarch of the Ancient Assyrian Church of the East, says "Only the families that agree to give a daughter or sister in marriage to a Muslim can remain, which means that the entire nuclear family will progressively become Muslim." Also, Assyrian families are forced to turn over their homes as ransom for their kidnapped relatives.

Muslim persecution of Assyrians is not limited to al-Qaeda or Sunnis. On May 30 AINA reported that Sadr's Mahdi army ordered Christian women in Baghdad to veil themselves or face dire consequences (AINA, 5-30-2007).

Assyrian Priest and 3 Deacons Gunned Down in North Iraq

The Arabic language Assyrian (also known as Chaldnen and Syriac) website ankawa.com is reporting that 1 priest and 3 deacons were gunned down in Mosul as they left the Church after having finished Sunday Mass. Fr. Ragheed Ganni, Deacon Basman Joseph, Deacon Bassam and Deacon Ghassan of the Holy Spirit Church were killed by a hale of bullets from a group of gunmen. Their bodies were dumped in front of the church and remain their; residents are afraid to remove their bodies for fear of being shot. According to the AFP, the four had finished mass at 7.30 PM and were driving away in the priest's car when they were intercepted, about 100 meters from the church, by a car; four men got out and shot them.
Fr. Ganni was born in Mosul in 1972; he held a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering from the University of Mosul (1993). He studied in Rome from 1996 to 2003 where he Obtained a Masters in Divinity (Moscone Theology).

Two Assyrian Baghdad US Embassy Employees Killed By Al-Qaeda

An Assyrian couple that worked for the US embassy in Baghdad has been killed by an al Qaeda-led group. The couple was killed on Monday, May 28. According to Reuters, after the husband went missing late last week his wife went to look for him and then she too appeared to have been abducted.
U.S officials, who wish to remain anonymous, told AINA the couple's car was stopped and the husband was abducted while the terrorists screamed "you filthy Christian traitor." When the wife, Amal, attempted to deliver the ransom to the kidnappers, described as a Sunni group, she was killed.
The self-styled "Islamic State of Iraq" said in a statement published on the Internet "God's ruling has been implemented against two of the most prominent agents and spies of the worshippers of the Cross...a man and woman who occupy an important position at the U.S. embassy...The swords of the security personnel of the Islamic State of Iraq...are with God's grace slitting the throats of crusaders and their aides and lackeys."
The group said it was able to acquire a large amount of money from them. It did not give further details.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said only that two local Baghdad embassy employees were missing. "There are two local national employees of the embassy in Baghdad who are missing. Their whereabouts, at this point, are unknown," Casey told reporters in Washington. "We do have concerns about their welfare."

Mahdi Militia Warns Christians

An undated letter issued by Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi army to Christians in Baghdad orders Christian women to veil themselves or face grave consequences. The letter, obtained and translated by AINA, states that the Virgin Mary was not unveiled and so Christian women should not be unveiled. The letter ends with an ominous note that committees have been established to monitor the Christian populace and enforce the
decree. For the Christian Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) in Baghdad, the imposition of Shari'a (Islamic law) is coming from both Sunnis and Shiites. On March 18 al-Qaeda moved into the predominantly Assyrian Dora neighborhood in Baghdad and demanded payment of the jizya (AINA 4-17- 2007, 3-18-2007), the poll tax demanded by the Koran which all Christians and Jews must pay. Families that could not pay the jizya were instructed to give a daughter or sister in marriage to a Muslim (AINA 5- 18-2007). Read The Mahdi Order

Tensions are mounting in Nineveh Plains as the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (previously Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq), a Shi'aa bloc in the Nineveh Province Council (5 members out of 40), are demanding to construct a building for the al-Mihrab Martyr in the Christian dominated Nineveh Plain region. Al-Mihrab is a recess in a mosque indicating the direction of prayer, i.e., prayer niche. The Shi'aa bloc are claiming that the administrative authorities are not executing their demands. The Governor of Nineveh Duraid Muhammad Kashmoola stated that the demands of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq are personal and political in nature and that he denied the request to construct the building because it was exceeding and traversing on governmental lands. Furthermore, the governor stated that such action is designed to create tension between Muslims and Christians and that such actions will oppress and/or terrorize the rights of the Christians in the region. The 5 members of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq have boycotted the meetings of the Nineveh Governorate Council. Tensions continue to rise. Worth mentioning that the two Kurdish parties of the KDP and PUK bloc dominate the Nineveh Governorate Council, followed by the Sunni al-Tawafuq (Conformance) bloc, then the Shi'aa bloc, 2 Christians and a Turkomani member.

Hikmat Faraj al-Safi was killed on May 17, 2007 at the hands of unknown gunmen as he was unloading a truck of provisions for his store in the Mechanic area in Dora. Al-Safi was born in 1952 and a father of seven children.

Grand Mufti Condemns Persecution of Christians

The Grand Mufti (High Commission of Legal Opinion) of Iraq, Sheikh Jamal Abd Al-Kareem Al-Dabban, sent a letter to the Head of the Vicar Council of Churches in Iraq acknowledging the attacks and persecution of Christians. He condemned the Iraqi bloodshed and the perpetrators. Read Statement

Three individuals, Jameel Hanna Sayfo, his wife Muntaha Hadi Sleiman and Ra'ad Najeeb Mikha were killed by 'friendly fire' from the coalition forces in the midst of heavy fire exchange in the Baladiyat district in Mosul city. Deceased Jameel and wife Muntaha have left behind one son and two daughters and deceased Ra'ad left one son and two daughters.

The Reverend Temathaus Eisha, pastor of the Church of St. Shimoni in the besieged1 Dora district of Baghdad, confirmed to ankawa.com that the information published about the forced displacement of Christian Assyrians from their homes in the district is accurate. He added that the conditions were horrible, especially in the Al-Ta'ma, Al-iskan, Al-mo'alimeen, Al-shurTa, Al-sitten, and Asia neighborhoods. The three remaining neighborhoods that are relatively calm are Hai Al-athuriyeen (Assyrian quarter), Al-jim'iya, and Al-sihha. The large-scale campaign consists of expelling all Christians, unless they convert to Islam or the jizya, or leave their homes and belongings. He added that the majority of Assyrians have abandoned these areas.

A Chaldean priest is kidnapped in Baghdad

Fr. Nawzat P. Hanna, parish priest of Mar Pithion, was abducted this morning in the capital's al-Baladiyat quarter. Baghdad's auxiliary bishop: “We will pray for his immediate release, but we will not submit to fear”. Local Christians warn of systematic plan by terrorists to “clean-up” the city quarter by quarter. Complete Article

The crisis for the Assyrian community in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood is deepening. Islamists are systematically targeting the Christian Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs), forcing them to pay the jizya (AINA 4-17-2007, 3-18-2007), a "protection" tax demanded by the Koran, or convert within 24 hours or be killed. Dora is located 10 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. Families are abandoning their homes and seeking refuge in Churches:
14 families have fled to the Al-So'ud Chaldean Church.
7 families have fled to Saint Odisho Assyrian Church (3 families are in the church and 4 in the Saint Adai Patriarchate, the old church building).
An unknown number of families have fled to Saint George Chaldean Church.
Islamic groups are preventing families from bringing any belongings as they flee their homes. Hatem Al-Razaq, the sheik of the Al-Noor mosque in Dora, has toured Dora, visiting each Assyrian family and instructing them to pay 250,000 Iraqi dinars ($190), saying this sum is the jizya because "you are not Muslims." Families that cannot pay this sum are told to send one family member to the mosque on Friday to announce their conversion to Islam. Families who refuse to do this must leave their homes immediately and not take any of their belongings with them because "your properties belong to the mosque." Families that do not leave and do not convert are threatened with death.
In a report by the Catholic News Agency (AINA 5-18-2007), Mar Addai II, the Patriarch of the Ancient Assyrian Church of the East, says "Only the families that agree to give a daughter or sister in marriage to a Muslim can remain, which means that the entire nuclear family will progressively become Muslim." Also, Assyrian families are forced to turn over their homes as ransom for their kidnapped relatives.

Muslims Burn Assyrian Church in Baghdad

(AINA) -- According to the Assyrian website ankawa.com , a group of armed Muslims set fire to St. George Assyrian Church in the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad. The group of men poured gasoline on the church and set it on fire. This is the same church that was bombed in the first of a wave of bombings of Assyrian churches (AINA 10-16-2004 ). When St. George was bombed in 2004, the church Cross was not damaged; the bombers tore the cross down with their hands after the bombing.

In the past four weeks, the Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) community in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood has been systematically targetted by Islamists, who have demanded that the Christian Assyrians pay the jizya (AINA 4-17-2007 , 3-18-2007 ), a "protection" tax demanded by the Koran, or convert within 24 hours or be killed. Assyrian families have sought refuge in Churches (AINA 5-18-2007 ).

Dora is located 10 kilometers southwest of Baghdad.

Told to Convert or Die, 21 Assyrian Families Seek Shelter in Baghdad Churches

Baghdad (AINA) -- The crisis for the Assyrian community in Baghdad's Dora neighborhood is deepening. Islamists are systematically targeting the Christian Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs), forcing them to pay the jizya (AINA 4-17-2007 , 3-18-2007 ), a "protection" tax demanded by the Koran, or convert within 24 hours or be killed. Dora is located 10 kilometers southwest of Baghdad. Complete Article

Only the families that agree to give a daughter or sister in marriage to a Muslim can remain in Iraq.

Baghdad, May 17, 2007 / 11:51 am ( CNA ) .- The Patriarch of the Ancient Assyrian Church of the East, Mar Addai II, has called on the Prime Minister and the Iraqi parliament to put an end to the tragic situation that Christians in Iraq are enduring due to the constant threats and attacks against them. Complete Article

A car bomb in Ras al-Jaadda near Qabr al-Bint on May 10, 2007 claimed the life of Manhal Hanna Abbo as he was returning home from work. Abbo died immediately as he suffered severe head injuries. He was born in 1968 in the Assyrian town of Tellesqof. He was married and had a baby daughter five months old.

In the past few days alone, more than 100 Assyrian Christian families have fled the Dora district of Baghdad, which had a Christian majority as the threats to leave their homes, pay the jizya tax or convert to Islam continues. Many members of parliament, including Mahmoud Uthman, Noor al-Deen al-Hayali, Haydar al-Abadi protested these acts against the Christians and called upon the Iraqi government to protect the Christians.

Mr. Gabriel Khamis Khamis an Assyrian citizen living in the Na'eeriya district in Baghdad was kidnapped by unknown gunmen with his wife Feryal, his grandson Jason (4 years old) and the taxi driver on the Baghdad-Kirkuk road. Mr. Khamis's son in law and his daughters Lina, Nour and Sara were in another car but they were able to escape and report the incident at the nearest police station. Some time later the wife and the grandson were found in the Habhab desert after they were stripped of their jewelry while the fate of the husband and the taxi driver remains unknown.

Pay, convert, leave or die

Many Christians in Dora are now facing demands for the traditional Islamic tax on non-Muslim minorities, the jizya. This is not being imposed by the government, but by Islamist insurgents who are operating freely in Dora without any intervention by either Iraqi or American forces. In keeping with the teaching of shari\'a (Islamic law), Christians are offered the choice of paying money (which will be used to fund the insurgent violence), converting to Islam, leaving the area, or being killed. The demands can come as written messages delivered to their home, or from militants knocking on the door. Sometimes the option of paying jizya is not offered - it is then a choice of convert to Islam, flee within 24 hours leaving their homes to be seized by the militants, or be killed.

An armed Iraqi group has in recent days begun targeting Christians in the residential al-Doura neighbourhood of Baghdad, according to an interior ministry source quoted by the pan Arab daily al-Sharq al-Awsat. Information obtained during probes and the interrogation of various terror suspects arrested last week indicate that this group is linked to al-Qaeda and is made up of 200 militiamen, most of them foreigners.

The NBC "Nightly News" with Brian Williams (5:40 p.m. West Coast Time) addressed the issue of Iraqi fleeing to Syria. The NBC correspondence interviewed Najeeba, an old Christian woman, whose husband was killed when one of the churches was bombed in Iraq. The Islamic fundamentalists asked her to convert to Islam or face death. She packed one suitcase, left everything behind and fled to Syria. The cameraman videotaped the one bedroom apartment that Najeeba shared with eight others. Najeeba pays $300 monthly for the room and the landlord had informed her that he was going to increase the rent to $600. Najeeba stated that she has nothing left.

Two Assyrian men were abducted on Tuesday by unknown gunmen in Baghdede as they were heading to work at al-Salam Hospital in Mosul. The reason for their abduction and their whereabouts is still unknown.

ADM Member Martyred

Sargon Ashur, a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement passed away on April 26, 2007 after spending two weeks in a coma. He was ambushed, fired upon and hit in his head while on his way to work. Sargon was married and had a girl Oryana (4 years) and a son Mattai (1 year old).

Hani Hanna Yousif Bidawid (b. 1949) was shot down on Thursday morning in al-Ghadeer quarters of Baghdad as he was on his way to work. Bidawid was married and had two children, Saamir and Sally

An Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) man traveling from Kirkuk, North Iraq to Syria was abducted at noon today. The man, identified as Wesam Khamis Sliwa, was traveling with his wife and sisters when their car was stopped by masked and armed men. Mr. Khamis was taken out of the car and driven away; the women were not harmed. The reason for the kidnapping is unknown and the kidnappers have not made contact yet. Mr. Khamis holds a degree in physical education and was born in the 1950s.

Tellesqof (Tell Esqof), northern Iraq Around 10:00 a.m., a suicide car bomb attack took place in Tellesqof, 9 miles north of Mosul. The attacker detonated his car and at least 10 people were killed and 20 wounded. The car bomb exploded in the middle of the village market, in front of the social club near an elementary school. Tellesqof is a predominantly
Christian town. This was the first terrorist attack in this tight-knit community since the Iraq war started.

Leave Christianity and Convert to Islam

An unidentified Islamic group has been threatening the Chrisitan Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) in the Dora district of Baghdad, a traditionally Assyrian area. The Islamic group issued an ultimatum yesterday to Assyrian families, telling them to leave Christianity and convert to Islam within 24 hours or they would all be killed. The Islamic group also issued a fatwa (a religious edict) to confiscate the property of all Christians, to force Assyrian women to veil themselves, to forbid genuflection (making the sign of the Cross) and the wearing of the Cross. Earlier the same Islamic group forcefully removed the Cross from the churches of St. John and St. George. An affiliated Islamic group in Northern Iraq occupied the Assyrian monastery of Raban Hormuz.

Fredrick John Shimshon Al-Bazi (b. 1943) was kidnapped at 1:30 by unknown armed militias as he was returning home from his office in 'Aamiriya. Al-Bazi completed his postgraduate studies in civil engineering in Briton. He served his country for more than 39 years as an academic in Baghdad and Al- Mustansiriya Universities, as an executive director of one of the main bureaus concerned with irrigation and reformation, and as deputy minister for Iraqi Mineral Resources. According to eyewitness reports fully
covered and armed individuals riding an Opal vehicle kidnapped Al-Bazi. They also reported that he was beaten severely before he was taken away. Source: Firodil Institute. Contact (info@firodil.co.uk). He was released later after paying the ransom.

Two Chaldean Catholic Nuns Stabbed to Death in North Iraq

BAGHDAD (AP) -- Two elderly sisters, both Chaldean Catholic nuns, were stabbed to death in their home in Kirkuk, city police reported Tuesday, saying the motive for the attack was not known.

Kirkuk police 1st. Lt. Marewan Salih said Fawzeiyah Naoum, 85, and her 79-year-old sister Margaret, were stabbed multiple time by two intruders who raided their home Monday night near the Cathedral of the Virgin in Kirkuk. They lived alone and there was no sign of a robbery, Salih said.

Chaldean Catholics are an ancient Eastern rite now united with Roman Catholicism. Adherents live mainly in Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq and most speak Aramaic

Muslims Forcing Christian Assyrians in Baghdad Neighborhood to Pay 'Protection Tax'

Baghdad (AINA) -- Muslims in the Dora neighborhood of Iraq are forcing Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) to pay the jizya , the poll tax demanded by the Koran which all Christians and Jews must pay in exchange for being allowed to live and practice their faith as well as being entitled to 'Muslim protection' from outside aggression.

At least two cases have been reported to a government employee -- who wishes to remain anonymous -- in which the Christian Assyrian wives were instructed to go to a certain mosque and pay, which they did out of fear. The stated reason for the payment was "we do the fighting and you pay to support."

The jizya has been collected since the arrival of Islam in 630 A.D. The last systematic collection was by the Ottomans (Turks), which came to an end only in 1918, when the Ottoman empire was defeated and partitioned in World War One.

Kurdish Authorities Outlaw Assyrian Language

Dohuk, North Iraq (AINA) -- Kurdish authorities are preventing Assyrian businesses from using Assyrian names or putting up signs using the Assyrian language on the front of their stores, according to the Assyrian website assyrian4all.net . Kurdish authorities have informed businesses that they may use Kurdish or English only. An Assyrian businessman observed that this policy is no different from that under Saddam's regime, when Assyrians were forced to use Arabic instead of Assyrian names.

Architect Walid Abd al-Ahad was killed in al-Nidhal Street while on his way to work.

Bassam Jamil Mansour Breekho was killed in Baghdad due to a bomb explosion at the Administrative and Economy College, University of Mustansiriyya.

Goldsmith (Jeweler) Haitham H. M. Ghazala was murdered this morning in Mosul.

Luana, a 22-year-old Christian university student in Iraq confesses that an Iraqi soldier raped her inside her home. She stated, “I thought very hard before agreeing to tell my story. But I cannot allow other girls to suffer the same violence I suffered. In addition to being discriminated against and lacking support." Luana stated that her entire family had fled to Jordan and from there to Sweden with the exception of her and her brother who decided to wait until she finishes university. She continued to state that one day, while her
brother was at the university, a group of Iraqi soldiers raided their home saying that they had information that there were insurgents in the area. She added that, “When they were inside my home I saw them giving me strange looks. They asked me questions for about 15 minutes and then they left." Two days later, on the afternoon of November 27, 2006, Luana was alone again when one of the soldiers who had raided their home earlier forced himself into the house and raped her threatening that if she made any noises or told anyone then he was going to return to do it again, kill her brother and take the home away. Luana and her brother went to the police, but the police did nothing. Two months later, Luana realized that she was pregnant. She and her brother went to a doctor where she had an abortion. She concluded, "I hope my story will help girls who are raped in Iraq to decide to tell their story even though it is hard in a traditional Muslim country such as Iraq. But if we remain silent, there will be more girl victims and more girls will lose that so precious thing that God gave them, their virginity."

Deacon Abd al-Khaliq Bakos Mussa Qaryo was murdered after he was kidnapped. Despite paying the ransom, the kidnappers decided to kill him. His body was transferred to his hometown of Baghdeda for burial. He is the brother of Sister Sophia Bakos of the Christian Dominicans.

Firas Sabah Aboosh Momeeka was one of the victims who were killed when a car bomb exploded in al- Sadriyya quarters of Baghdad. His body was transferred to his hometown of Baghdada for burial.

After over two months of his kidnapping, the body of Faris Daniel was found and identified. Faris' body was transferred to his hometown of Telkepe for burial. Faris and Shakeep Poulus were kidnapped together. The body of Shakeep was found earlier.

A high ranking Assyrian official of the Iraqi Airways was gunned down by unknown assassins near his home in Mekanik (Daura). Mr Isaac Esho Alhelani was stopped whilst driving with his wife, forced out of the car and shot twice before the assassins fled with his car. According to his children living in Australia, he was then taken to a hospital in Baghdad, but the hospital did not have the resources or medication to treat his serious wounds. He was then flown by helicopter to the city of Arbil where he died. His body was
later taken by car to the city of Kirkuk, the place of his birth, for burial by his wife and sister. Isaac was a graduate from an aircraft engineering school in Scotland in the early 1960's where he studied under a scholarship from the Iraqi Government. Upon his return to Iraq after completing his studies with distinction, he was appointed as an aircraft engineer in the Iraqi Airways and climbed the ladder of promotion until he reached the position of Deputy Director. Isaac, who was 64, retired in December 2006.
He leaves his second wife in Iraq and four children from his first marriage. Three of the children, his daughter and two sons live in Australia, and his youngest son is in Syria where he escaped to from Baghdad after being threatened with kidnapping.

ADM Member Martyred

Warda Slewo was murdered by the enemies of democracy in Iraq. Martyred Warda was born in 1955 he is leaving behind a wife and four children: the eldest is 14 years old. Martyred Warda was a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM) and the distributor of Assyrian (ADM) Bahra Newspaper. Source: ADM News.

Two Christian brothers, Wisam and Nasir Banni, were murdered in front of their home in al-Hadba' quarters of northern Mosul. A group of armed men fired at the two brothers while they were in front of their home and killed them, police said. Source: Aswat al-Iraq News

Ankawa

After a kidnapping that lasted three days, Malek Mansour Behnam Hanna was found murdered by his abductors. His body will be transferred to his home town of Karamlesh in northern Iraq.

Karemlash4u

In al-Wahda Quarters, unidentified armed group attacked Sargon Sabah Yacoub and his family while on their way to Baghdeda to visit relatives. Sargon (b. 1979) was killed. His wife Zeena and son Fadi were critically injured and are in hospital.

Ankawa

Like other minority members in Iraq, Mardon Matrood, a 44-year-old Assyrian shopkeeper in Baghdad, has had enough of the country's sectarian violence. "Minorities in Iraq are targeted by insurgents and militias, who want us out of the country as they promote what they call the 'cleansing of Iraq, of non-Muslim communities'," said Matrood who is living with his family of six in an abandoned government building. Four months ago Matrood's family failed to pay a ransom of US $50,000 to kidnappers who had abducted his nephew. The nephew was later found dead. "We are a poor family...we couldn't pay [the ransom money] and after two weeks we were informed that the police had found his body near a mosque in Adhamiyah district (northern Baghdad). It was totally mangled, burned and tortured," Matrood said.

ElectronicIraq

December 18, 2006

Toddler Beheaded, Roasted And Served On A Mound Of Rice

Because the crisis in Iraq is so severe, we are dedicating the In Touch page of this issue of Barnabas Aid to a message from our International Director, Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo who visited Basra twice in the second half of 2006.

A toddler was kidnapped in Baghdad in October 2006. The mother, a Christian, could not pay the ransom and the young child was returned to her, beheaded, roasted and served on a mound of rice. Complete Article

A young Assyrian man, Ninos Potros Qoryaqos Al-Bazi, was killed as a huge explosion rocked a popular market in the area of New Baghdad. The young man was with his brother at the time of the explosion. The two brothers were transferred to a hospital whereNinos was announced dead. Another Assyrian, Ryan Sami Esho, who owns a store in the area, mentioned that two car bombs exploded in the crowded market. The explosions shattered the windows of his shop completely and damaged others.

Fishkhabour and Derabon (Dair Aboon) are two Assyrian villages that are part of the Zakho district. The majority of lands in these two villages belong to Assyrians, the indigenous people of the region. Tens of Kurdish families belonging to the Mirani tribe have illegally appropriated lands belonging to the Assyrians and there are additionally two hundred Yezidi families illegally living in the village of Derabon. Many complaints were presented to the government in charge, but no action was taken to end these violations. Other similar violations in the villages of Qrola, Bidar and others in al-Sindi region continue. In addition, it has been noted that the funds, which are allocated to the building of homes in the region, are wasted due to administrative corruption resulting in the building of houses that don't satisfy the legal building codes.

An unidentified Islamic group placed flyers at the Student Union at Mosul University; the flyers contained messages directed at Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) students and were placed in areas where Assyrian students congregate. Witnesses report that University security men observed the men placing the flyers but did not intervene. The flyers warned the Christian Assyrian students that "in cases where non-Muslims do not conform to wearing the Hijab [head cover for women] and are not conservative with their attire in accordance with the Islamic way, the violators will have the Sharia and the Islamic Law applied to them."

December 08 , 2006

ANOTHER PRIEST FEARED KIDNAPPED

Chaldean church leaders today said they fear that an Iraqi priest in Baghdad who has been missing for two days may have been kidnapped.
Chaldean priest Douglas Yousef Al-Bazy was last seen leaving his parish church by car after celebrating Sunday morning mass on Sunday (November 19).
“We haven't heard from him since after the mass,” Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk Louis Sako told Compass by telephone from Kirkuk. “We don't know if it was an accident or if it was a kidnapping.” Complete Article

December 06 , 2006

An armed group attacked few men who were conversing in front of a bakery not far from his home in Dora district in Baghdad. Mikha Raheem (age 56), originally from Alqosh, was killed.

December 04 , 2006

Priest Murdered Execution Style

Fr. Mundhir al-Dayr of the Protestant Church in Mosul was found dead with a bullet in his head, reported AsiaNews today. Fr. Al-Dayr was abducted November 26, 2006 and was found dead four days later. A message from the abductors demanded one million dollars as ransom or they will "kill all Christians starting with Fr. Al-Dayr." Source: AsiaNews

December 04 , 2006

Assyrian Christian Priest Abducted

Fr. Sami Abd al-Ahad was abducted along with his car in front of his home on al-Sina'aa Street across from the Technology University in Baghdad as he attempted to go to Church.

December 04 , 2006

On December 4, 2006, it was reported that Shakeeb's (b. 1974) body was found. He was murdered on December 2. The fate of his relative is not known yet.

November 30 , 2006

Followers of Moqtada al-Sadr have issued a fatwa concerning school girls, according to an Assyrian priest in Baghdad. The fatwa requires all girls to wear the veil while attending school. In an unusual twist of logic, the fatwa implies that failure to wear the veil would be tantamount on the girls' part to complicity in the death of the Imam Husayn ibn Ali (killed in 680 A.D. in Karbala in a battle with the army of the Caliphate.)

November 29 , 2006

A terrorist group in Baghdad assassinated Haskial Isaac Benjamin al-Raikani (b. 1950). He was from the Assyrian village of Telkepe (Telkaif) in northern Iraq. Al-Raikani was shot and killed in front of his home in Dora, Baghdad as he attempted to move his family and belongings back to northern Iraq. Al-Raikani was married with three sons and two daughters.

November 26 , 2006

Two Assyrians, Shakeeb Polous Isaac Polous of the Assyrian town of Karamles and his relative Faris Daniel, were abducted today in Mosul.

November 26 , 2006

The Head of the Department of Antiquities and Heritage in Kirkuk, Ayad Tariq, warned from an increase in trespassing on archaeological sites in the city, such as that of Jallo, 15 km. South of the city of Kirkuk. He said that people are building homes within the site, which is one of the most important archaeological sites that date back to ancient Assyrian period. He added that even though the department had build a fence around the site, still the trespassing by the locals continues to increase.

November 23 , 2006

Ishmael Behnam al-Qas Ishak was abducted over a month and a half ago. Yesterday his body was found at Baghdad's Institute of Forensic Medicine. The victim was originally from the Assyrian town of Baghdeda. He was married and a father of three children. Ishmael worked as a taxi driver on the Baghdad-Amman highway when he was abducted.

November 22 , 2006

The head of al-Suryan Independent Assembly Mr. Eshoo Majeed Hadaya was attacked and shot to death by unknown assailants as he left the headquarters of his movement in Baghdeda, the Nineveh plain, in northern Iraq.

November 20 , 2006

Priest Kidnapped

(AsiaNews) Christians in Baghdad fear yet another priest has been kidnapped. Fr Doglas Yousef Al Bazy - 34 years, Chaldean -- left his parish yesterday morning and has not yet returned home.

October 29 , 2006

In the afternoon of October 29, Marvin Emmanuel Khazmi (born 1984) was kidnapped. His body was found the next day at the mortuary with a bullet in the head. Marvin was a third year student at the University of Baghdad, College of Agriculture.

October 29 , 2006

Ziyad Abdulla Ajaj (22 years young) was murdered by a group of armed terrorists as he left home in the morning going to work in the Christian quarters of al Sa'aa.

October 22 , 2006

Arkan Sabah Yousif was kidnapped. However, his body was found in mid November.

October 21 , 2006

14 Year Assyrian Christian Beheaded

Ayad Tariq (14 years young Christian) was the sole provider for his family that consisted of his father, who was old and could not work, mother, five younger brothers and two sisters. He was forced to quit school, work and provide for his family. His job was to turn on and off an electric generator and attend to it while on his 12 hours shift. On Saturday 21, and around 6:00 a.m., while he was just about to enter the premises of his fenced work, a group of Islamist extremists confronted Ayad and asked for his ID. When they discovered that he was a Christian, they began to scream "kafir … kafir" (Infidel). They dropped him on the ground, different men held each of his arms and legs and a fifth man held his head, put the knife on his neck and cut his throat while screaming "Allah Akbar … Allah Akbar" (God is Great).

October 13 , 2006

KDP Militia Attack Assyrian Ashur TV

A group from the Kurdish militia belonging to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) attacked the Nineveh headquarters of the Assyrian Democratic Movement's TV station, Ashur TV. The KDP militia forced the TV station staff, including two female news anchors, out of the building and forcibly confined them in their vehicle outside of the Bakhdeda (Hamdaniya) TV station. The Ashur TV station staff driver was severely beaten by the KDP militia and was hospitalized.

October 11 , 2006

Dr. Joseph Fraidon Potros (b. 1950) was kidnapped from his working office in Baquba General Hospital. His abductors then murdered him. Dr. Potros was a specialist in dermatology.

October 09 , 2006

14 Year Assyrian Christian Crucified

Christians are living a terrified life in Mosul and Baghdad. Several priests have been kidnapped, girls are being raped and murdered. A fourteen-year-old boy was crucified in the Christian neighborhood of Basra.

October 09, 2006

Assyrian Priest Beheaded

Fr. Polous Iskandar, the priest of Mar Afram (St. Ephrem) Church in Mosul, was kidnapped by armed group on Monday while he was in the industrial quarters of the city. On October 11, he was beheaded by what it seems to be an Islamic fundamentalist group.

October 08 , 2006

Church Bombed

Around 6:30 a.m., two bombs exploded by the Church of Virgin Mary on Palestine road in Baghdad. The outer walls of the church were damaged and the windows of many parked cars that belong to the church were shattered. One policeman was killed and many passing by people were injured.

October 05, 2006

Another Church Attacked

The church of the Holy Spirit in Mosul appears to have become the target of a terror campaign. After attacks that took place at the end of September, a group of men opened fire on the place of worship on October 4 and 5, injuring one of the guards who is currently in hospital.

October 04 , 2006

A series of bombs went off in rapid succession in a shopping district in a mainly Assyrian Christian neighborhood of Camp Sarah in Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 56, many of the injured are in critical condition.

The available names of the killed so far include:
•  Thamir Giwargis

•  Fareed Elias

•  Falah Yousif Zarra, of Alqosh (member of the ChaldoAssyrian Syriac National Council Secretariat of Iraq).

•  Ghazwan

•  Fadi Aadil, of Batnaya

•  Husam, from Zakho

•  Abu Albert, Armenian

•  Zayd Farooq

•  Issac Edward Mirza, of Alqosh

October , 2006

13 Christian women two weeks ago were kidnapped and killed because they didn't wear the traditional Islamic veils.

October 01 , 2006

A bomb exploded in front of the home of an Assyrian family in al-Nasr district. The bomb caused injury to one woman in the house and damages to the structure. The family has been receiving threats to leave the city.

Sept 30, 2006

According to Aswat al-Iraq (Voices of Iraq), 30 Christian families have received threats on Friday September 29 to leave Mosul in 72 hours or be killed.

Sept 26, 2006

Chaldean Church Bombed

Once again the Chaldean Church of the Holy Spirit was the target of terrorist attacks in Mosul, Iraq. On the morning of September 26, a group of men fired rockets against the building, whilst an explosive devise was detonated outside a usually unused entrance door, this according to local sources. No one was killed or hurt in the incident. They also suggested that the attackers might be the same people who on Sunday fired some 80 shots against the church breaking some windows and causing minor damage.

Sept 24, 2006

Assyrian Church Bombed Many Killed & Injured

Terrorists attacked Assyrians after Sunday prayer at the Cathedral of the Virgin Mary of the Ancient Church of the East in Al-Riyadh neighborhood in Baghdad. Joseph Isho and an unidentified small boy were killed and around 17 injured, two of them seriously. Eyewitnesses stated that as the worshipers were leaving the church after Sunday morning mass, a bomb exploded under the car of the Church priest Father Ayzeria Warda, parked nearby the main gate, or perhaps a hand grenade was thrown at them from a speeding car. Immediately after that, another huge explosion occurred from a car bomb parked across the narrow street as the panic people gathered to check on the injured.

Sept 21, 2006

Assyrian police officer Ziad Waadallah Jamil was assassinated in Mosul in the area of al-Sa'aa. He was employed with the Nineveh police force and he was attacked by unknown assailants as he was leaving home to go to work. Officer Jamil was born in Mosul in 1981, he was single.

Sept 08, 2006

Another Church Bombed

Two bombs exploded in front of the main gate of a church in al-Za'faraniyya. The explosions caused damaged to the church and injured the church guards. Fr. Francis Scher was not at the church as he was visiting a family after christening ceremonies.

August 31 , 2006

Manaf H. Yousuf was killed by a bomb that exploded as he was returning home from work in al-Baladiyat quarters of Baghdad. Yousuf was born in 1978 and originally from the town of Bersive in northern Iraq. He was an engineer.

August 26 , 2006

According to www.basrahnews.net/ Dr. Donny George, Deputy Head of the Iraqi Antiquity and head of Baghdad Museum, had fled to an undisclosed address in Damascus, Syria with his family because of the insecurity, lack of resources and the interferences of the Muqtada al-Sadr militias.

Later, in November Prof. George stated in "Hard Talk", a program of the BBC, that he was under too much pressure by the fundamentalist to leave Iraq. Furthermore, the Ministry of Antiquity had planned to replace him and it withdrew his powers and responsibilities. He faced the above simply because he was a Christian.

August 17 , 2006

Ghassan E. Rofa Haido (b. 1968) was murdered outside Baghdad and in front of a crowd. He has been putting off his marriage because he was anticipating this murder.

August 12 , 2006

Two Assyrian brothers were murdered in cold blood while in their own shop in Mosul's quarters of al-Masaarif. The two Assyrian brothers owned a carpentry business in which they sold their furniture too. The two brothers, Akram Aprim Shlimon and Aziz Aprim Shlimon, were murdered in broad daylight and in front of people. The killers escaped using the car the belonged to the two brothers.

August 08 , 2006

KDP Murder Assyrian Man In Land Grab Policy

Akhiqar Gewargis Odisho (b. 1962) was shot at 8:00 p.m. while tending to his sheep. He was shot by a group of Kurdish militia, members of Kurdistan Democratic Party of Barazani. Sherdel Taher Khalid and two other unidentified Kurdish thugs were seen leaving the scene in their vehicle after the shooting. The three Kurds are from the Ekmala village, a neighboring village to Kondi Kosa where Mr. Akhiqar lived. Odisho died at 3:30 a.m. of August 9 from complications of his wounds in Nohadra (Dohuk) hospital. Odisho was married and had three daughters. The Assyrians of Kondi Kosa face continuous trespassing by neighboring Kurds despite pleas to the local government officials and KRG.

August 08 , 2006

A week ago, Bassam Shimun Hakim (33), was kidnapped from in front of his large liquor shop in Baghdad. The kidnappers demanded a ransom for his safe release. They were paid $30,000 in cash in addition to a BMW worth $10,000 that was parked besides the business address when he was kidnapped. Still, Bassam's dead body was discovered by police in one of Baghdad's streets two days ago and was kept in the morgue. Bassam was from Alqosh (northern Iraq) originally. He was married with two children.

August 03 , 2006

Chaldean Catholic Auxiliary Bishop Andreos Abouna of Baghdad said that before the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq there were about 1.2 million Christians in Iraq. Since then the overall number has dropped to about 600,000. The bishop said 75 percent of Christians from Baghdad had fled the capital to escape the almost daily outbreaks of sectarian violence.

July 21, 2006

A car bomb exploded in al-Muhafada St. Salwan Sabah Jabbar, A Christian, was killed and many Christians injured.

July 21, 2006

In the southern neighborhood of Dora, a Christian (unidentified yet) working for the ministry of higher education was shot dead.

July 20, 2006

Assyrian Christians Told To Leave Baghdad Or Be Exterminated

Pamphlets were distributed in Baghdad's quarters of al-Dora demanding from all the residence to evacuate their homes and leave. The pamphlets threatened to kill those who remain in their homes.

Another group demanded from Christian and Sunni families in the quarters of al-Mashtal to evacuate their homes or face extermination.

July 17, 2006

Assyrian Christian Priest Abducted

On Monday 17/07/2006, 10:30 a.m. Father Raad Washan Sawa was abducted by unknown assailants in al-Karada district. The three kidnappers stopped the taxi, which was transporting Father Sawa, forced him out of the taxi and into their car, and then they took him to one of the houses used for such operations. Father Sawa was blindfolded, burned his hands with cigarettes, beaten, and insulted with obscene words. The second day, he was beaten again and dropped on an express way in al-Qanat quarters but not before he was asked to prepare $200,000 U.S. which was going to be collected at a later time.

July 13, 2006

A Nissan pickup truck on the side road exploded on Thursday morning near the Syoof area in the heavily Assyrian populated Arapha district. Four adults and a boy were killed and seven wounded, few severely and critically. Police officer Johnny Warda was identified as one of the killed. One adult was unidentified because of severe burns to his entire body.

July 08, 2006

A call from the Ankawa farmers

It seems that the many complaints on the part of the Ankawa farmers to the officials regarding monetary compensation for the farmers and property owners were all for nothing.
Even though this subject isn't a mere complaint but rather it comes out of the righteous voice which should always be above all. There are legal documents which prove the ownership of the properties which were taken by the government for the construction of the Arbil International airport as well as other projects such as:

1.Apartment buildings on the Ankawa properties.

2.Construction of hydro stations on a 90 Dunum of land which is part of the Ankawa properties.

Building the so-called City of Dreams on large portions of lands belonging to the Ankawa farmers.

3.Establishing plant nurseries affiliated with the gardening administration in Arbil on the Ankawa lands.

4.Appropriating more than 500 Dunum of lands, and passing them to the department of agricultural research, forbidding the farmers of their lawful right to the lands, while those who were allowed to cultivate the lands were not residents of Ankawa.

We appeal to all the officials to find a prompt solution giving back the lawful land owners what's rightfully theirs ... We also thank Ankawa.com for its help in posting this complaint ...

Respectfully,
The Ankawa farmers

July 06, 2006

Kurdish Militia, Iraqi Police Terrorizing Assyrians in North Iraq

(AINA) -- Attacks against Assyrian Christian civilians (also known as Syriacs and Chaldeans) residing in the Nineveh Plain , north Iraq, have recently escalated at the hands of local Iraqi police as well as Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) paramilitary security squads. On June 30, 2006 three Iraqi Police loyal to the KDP Police Chief in the Hamdaniya District of the Nineveh governorate began assaulting civilian passers by with anti-Christian and racist slurs. The policemen had just come off duty but were still carrying their automatic weapons. As the Iraqi police continued their tirade against Christians in the overwhelmingly Assyrian Christian town, Steven Basim, a young man, left his car to plead with the police to refrain from their insults and threats. Full Report

July 01, 2006

A Christian who worked as a traffic warden was shot and killed on the streets of Kirkuk two days before his wedding.

July 01, 2006

KDP Oppression Of Assyrians Continues

A group of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) peshmerga (party militia) seized the Hamdaniya (Baghdede) main petrol station in order to get gas that is reserved originally for the general public. The local police interfered and an entanglement ensued. Two police were injured. The public were frightened, the station was closed, and the people were deprived of their share of gas.
Such attacks, assaults, and gas monopoly by the KDP are normal recurrences. The militias killed two residents of the [Assyrian] town of Bartella earlier when they were waiting to receive their share of gas at a gas station. The people protested the trespassing of KDP's peshmerga against what belongs to the general public.

June 25, 2006

Suicide Car Bomb Explodes in Assyrian Town in North Iraq

Bartillah, North Iraq (AINA) -- The quiet town of Bartillah, inhabited mostly by Syriac Orthodox Assyrians, experienced its first suicide bomb attack in its history this Sunday morning. At approximately 10 AM a dump truck exploded at the gates of the town's headquarters of the Supreme council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI). According to the Hamdaniya hospital chief, the blast killed two and wounded 13, a majority of which were civilians. Several automobiles and structures were also destroyed by the explosion. Full Report

June 24, 2006

Kurds Block Assyrians, Shabaks From Police Force in North Iraq

Earlier this year, at the request of the local Assyrian (also known as Chaldean and Syriac) and Shabak communities of the Nineveh Plain, and the local police force of the Hamdaniya and Telkaif districts, the Ministry of Interior gave the order to assign approximately 800 new policemen from the local communities in the two Nineveh Plain Districts. This was long overdue as these two districts have a substantially low number of policemen to maintain security in the region. In addition, over fifty percent of the anemic police force in this region is made up of Kurds from outside the area who are loyal to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Full Report

June 30 ,2006

KDP Oppression Continues

Three Iraqi Police loyal to the KDP Police Chief in the Hamdaniya District of the Nineveh governorate began assaulting civilian passers by with anti-Christian and racist slurs. The policemen had just come off duty but were still carrying their automatic weapons. As the Iraqi police continued their tirade against Christians in the overwhelmingly Assyrian Christian town, Steven Basim, a young man, left his car to plead with the police to refrain from their insults and threats.

The police officers approached the man and one immediately started to strike him squarely on the side of his head with his weapon. As the young man fell to the ground bleeding, the other two policemen then also joined in the beating. Two other Assyrian men attempted to intervene and were also beaten.

As a group of onlookers began to approach and question the police regarding the slurs and beating, the police began firing into the crowd. Fearing they could not control the angry crowd, the police called for reinforcements.

June 22 ,2006

New statistics by the Assyrian Aid Society estimated that 1331 ChaldoAssyrian Christian families (for about 5561 persons) have fled Baghdad, Mosul, Basra, Ramadi, and Kirkuk and settled in towns and villages in northern Iraq. The Christians are fleeing because of the lack of security or forced migration. The statistics are as follows: 449 families to Dohuk, 119 families to Barwari Bala, 19 families to Mulla Barwan, 52 families to Aqra, 429 families to Zakho, and 263 families to Sapna. In previous statistics, 700 ChaldoAssyrian families were reported fleeing their homes.

June 16, 2006

Linda Edmond and her family were forced to leave their home in Basra after receiving death threats. Linda has been a member of the Mar Afram Church Musical Choir for 14 years. Islamic fundamentalists murdered her friend in the choir Shadha Sada Odisho few months earlier.

June 14, 2006

A local police patrol in Nineveh Province harassed and assaulted two Assyrian (ChaldoAssyrian) students in Mosul University after they completed their final exams and were ready to go home. Worth mentioning that the Assyrian students boycotted last year's classes at Mosul University because they were harassed and threatened for being Christians.

June 11, 2006

A bomb explosion in the al-Karrada district in central Baghdad killed many Iraqis, including Ninos Shamuel Adam, an Assyrian university student born in 1985.

June 07, 2006

Rushd Noel Essa was killed when a cab bomb exploded in al-Sina'aa quarters in Baghdad on Wednesday. Essa was a member of the ChaldoAssyrian Students and Youth Union. He lived in the Assyrian quarters of Dora and was born in 1976.

June 03, 2006

The Assyrian town of Karamles said farewell to an innocent 33-years-young Christian woman. Rahima Elias Isha'ya, originally from Karamles, was murdered by a group of armed men in the crowded commercial neighborhood of Dargazliyya in Mosul. She owned a small business where she sold perfumes and make-up related merchandise. The fanatic murderers fired their guns at Rahima while he was inside her shop and fled, said the police.

June 03, 2006

Armed men last night murdered a Christian engineer in front of his home in Basra. The Christian engineer, whose name has not yet been released, worked at the al-Najeebiyya Electrical Circuit in al-Ma'aqal. The murder seems to be due to religious reasons since the engineer was a Christian and there have been many killings against Christians in Basra and efforts to force them to leave the city.

June 02 , 2006

Another Church Bombed In Iraq

Kaneesat al-Si'aood (The Church of Ascension) was attacked by a rocket bomb last night. The bomb caused damages to the church building and a hole in the church dome. No injuries were reported because the attack happened during the night.

May 30, 2006

Kurds Murder Assyrian Christian

Ra'aad Yousif (b. 1976) was found murdered in the Industrial quarters in Mosul. Yousif is from Bartella, Nineveh Plains; he was married and had one child. Yousif owned a body building gym. Reports from Mosul indicate that the murder is suspected to be an act of revenge over the ownership of his gym as the decision of ownership was in his favor after the public bidding over the gym. He was threatened by the Kurds to withdraw his bid but he refused.

May 25, 2006

On Thursday, May 25th , 2006 , the ChaldoAssyrian Police Captain Salam Mnati Yousif was shot to death by the hands of terrorists in Karkuk city, at 2.30 pm , while he was shopping with his wife. Martyr Salam was born in 1956, he joined ADM after the liberation of Iraq , and was an active member in our ChaldoAssyrian Community in Karkuk, although he is Mandean (Sabean). Martyr Salam left behind a wife and six children. God Bless his soul.

May 23, 2006

The funeral of Linda Matti, a Christian who happened to be in a restaurant next to the mosque when a bomb planted in a motorcycle parked in the courtyard of a Shiite mosque Tuesday exploded and killed 11 people and wounded at least nine, takes place in the Tunis neighborhood of northern Baghdad, Iraq Wednesday, May 24, 2006.

May 17, 2006

Abulkarim Hurmiz Bahoda was murdered in a hate crime incident. No details available.

May 10, 2006

Wear Veil Or Die

Reports via e-mails and phone conversation with Assyrians in Iraq confirmed that Assyrian Christian women have been forced to wear the Islamic veil or face death and Assyrian men are being ordered to grow beards in the Muslim fashion.

May 07, 2006

Assyrian Priest Harassed

A priest while on his way back to Mosul after finishing his religious duties in Arbil was stopped at a Kurdish police search point. The priest was searched, distressed, insulted, and threatened not to be allowed to cross to Mosul for no apparent reason. He was finally allowed to cross the checkpoint when an Arabic speaking Kurdish police intervened.

May 06, 2006

Immediate Report from Baghdad

Reports from Baghdad confirmed that there was an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Rabi Yonadam Kanna, leader of the Assyrian Democratic Movement ( ZOWAA) and member of the Iraqi parliament on 6 May 2006 at approx 12 noon. The convoy of four vehicles had escorted Rabi Yonadam Kanna to a meeting in the Green Zone in Baghdad and were attacked by a roadside improvised explosive device (IED) on the highway while returning to the ADM HQ. Two of the bodyguards suffered slight injuries and two of the vehicles were damaged. Fortunately, Rabi Yonadam was not in the convoy and survived the attack. This was the third assassination attempt against Rabi Yonadam Kanna.

April 30 , 2006

Assyrian Christian Parishioners Attacked

An attack by a terrorist(s) on worshippers at the Assyrian (Suryani) Orthodox Church of Mar Afram in Mosul resulted in seriously injuring two Assyrians who were transferred to a hospital.

April 26 , 2006

Yousif Odisho Giwargis al-Baylati (born in 1965) was shot and killed in the Assyrian quarters of al-Dawwasa in Mosul. The motivation's still unknown, but seems that he was targeted because of his ethnic background. Giwargis was an Iraq-Iran war veteran and was injured during that war.

April 22 , 2006

Kurdish policemen, namely Badr, Hikmat, Sammeh, and Sourood that were part of the guarding duty under deputy Sulaiman, attacked a peaceful Christian civilian simply because he accompanied a friend who had a question about a specific problem.

April 12 , 2006

James Benyamin, an Assyrian resident of New Baghdad district of Baghdad, was shot and killed by insurgents while working in Balad, about 20 miles east of Baghdad. Balad is a small city in the province of Salah-Al-Deen, the birthplace of the former Iraqi dictator, and a hot bed for insurgents and terrorists.

April 07 , 2006

Shimshon Awisha (Abu Robi), brother of David and Abbi Awisha, was murdered near the Assyrian Club in Dora district as he was heading home. The killer stepped out from a car, walked towards Mr. Awisha, and shot him dead.

April 07 , 2006

The Mujahadeen Council, a leading insurgency group linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq, has announced the killing of a Christian in Mosul "for offending the prophet Mohammed." In a statement posted to the Internet, the group, whose military arm is still headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said that on Tuesday it "eliminated" a Christian in Mosul. "We eliminated him, because this impure crusader offended our noble prophet Mohammed. We killed him in the al-Tahir quarter of Mosul" it read.

April 06 , 2006

Wasan Matti, sister of Fr. Wisam Matti of Mother of God Church, was killed from gunshots by an Islamic terrorist group. She was with her husband and 2-year-old daughter in their car returning home from a doctor visit. Wasan was six months pregnant and would have celebrated her 30th birthday on April 18.

April 05 , 2006

Toma Hurmiz Toma al-Kanni was shot and killed by unidentified assailant(s). The shooting occurred as Toma was standing in his own front yard garden in the al-Mansour quarters of Mosul.

March 07, 2006

Assyrian Kamil Sulaiman Hurmiz, who owns a factory in Dawwasa Assyrian quarters of Mosul, was threatened unless he pays huge amounts of money to those who threatened him. Mr. Hurmiz locked his shop and left his home and the town.

March 07, 2006

Assyrian Sinan Abd al-Jabbar, who was kidnapped last Saturday (March 4), was murdered. His body was found thrown in Hay al-Tahrir quarters in Mosul as his family failed to pay the $50,000 ransom.

Sinan was married with one baby of 5 months young.

March 06,2006

Assyrian Christians - Leave or Die

In a phone call with Giwargis Samuel in Mosul, Mr. Samuel stated that fundamentalists are sending threatening letters to Assyrians Christians in town telling them to leave Mosul or face death.

March 02, 2006

Threats against Assyrians continue in Mosul. Tens of Assyrian families have left the Dargazliyya quarters in Mosul due to threats on their lives. Today, threats covered Assyrians in al-Wahda quarters, near al-Sabireen mosque. Mr. Sheba Keena, a teacher in the Vocational High School, received a letter threatening to kill him if he did not move out of the quarter in which he had lived since 1984. His neighbor was threatened earlier and his home was set on fire. Other Assyrian engineers have quit their good jobs and left their homes due to threats, including, engineer Nelson, General Manager for the Department of Water and Sewage for Mosul Governorate, and Mr. Ramzi, General Manager for the Yarmook Water Project.

The Iraqi police and army are standing helpless; they have proven that they can neither protect the Assyrian people from the fundamentalists nor assist them as they have lost everything and were escaping towards the unknown.

February 27, 2006

A car bomb went off in al-Ameen quarters of Baghdad at around 7:00 p.m. on Monday. The bomb exploded and killed Mahir Toma Oshana minutes after he left his home. Mahir was born in 1967. He was married and had three young children. His sister Linda Toma, who lives in Norway, verified what happened after receiving the sad news from her parents in Iraq.

February 24, 2006

Ni'mat Mattai Jiddo was killed by fundamentalists in Mosul. Details are not yet available. Ni'mat was married and had two children.

February 06, 2006

Islamic Militant Group Demands from non-Muslims in Iraq to Halt Their Religious Rituals

In Ramadi, west of Baghdad, leaflets were distributed over around 1000 protesters by an Islamic militant group called the al-Janah al-Askari li Jaysh al-Haq (The Military Wing for the Army of Justice). In the leaflets, the Islamic militant group stated that it will attack Danish and non-Muslim targets in Iraq. The group asked all its fighters to activate their military operations and to have the 500 Danish army personnel in Iraq as its first target. The militant group demanded from all non-Muslims to halt their religious rituals in churches and other worship places because they insulted Islam and Muslims.

January 29, 2006

According to Elaph, Muslim students in Mosul University beat tens of Christian students. This occurred days after a Danish newspaper published an insulting caricature drawing of Muslim prophet Mohammad. Muslim clerics in Mosul, under pressure from Islamic militias, issued fatwa (religious edict) calling their followers to "expel the Crusaders and infidels from the streets, schools, and institutions because they offended the person of the prophet in Denmark."

January 29, 2006

BOMBS TARGET 6 CHURCHES IN IRAQ

Today, Sunday, six churches were bombed in Iraq. In Baghdad, a car bomb detonated at 4:10 p.m. outside St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in the eastern Baghdad suburb of Sina'a. About 20 minutes later, another vehicle exploded outside the Anglican Church in eastern Baghdad's Nidhal area. The Churches of Mar Addai Catholic Church in al-Binook and St. Petros and Polous Orthodox Churches were bombed as well. Simultaneously, in the northern city of Kirkuk, the Church of the Virgin in Kirkuk was bombed at 4:30 p.m. That explosion came 15 minutes after another car bomb exploded outside St. Ephrem Orthodox Church. Three are confirmed dead, including Fadi R. Elias, 13 years old originally from Alqosh, and many wounded.

January 23, 2006

Another Christian is kidnapped. Yonis Sulaiman Yonan is from the Assyrian town of Karamles. He had lived in Baghdad for decades. He is in the business of repairing giant generators and medical equipments. On Friday, January 20, 2006, a stranger asked him to fix his generator. Mr. Yonan accompanied the man and has not returned home since. However, a message from his cell phone to his son's phone stated that he is doing well and that he has been kidnapped. No demands have been made yet and the fate of Mr. Yonan is unknown at this time. 

January 20, 2006

Ammo Baba, tied, eye-folded, beaten, and then robbed
A group of armed men raided the home of the former Iraqi football (soccer) player and coach Emmanuel David, better known as Ammo Baba, in Zayoona, in the center of Baghdad.
The 74 years old former coach Baba told the police: "The armed men tie me up, folded my eyes, and began to beat me up." The armed men stole Baba's money and belongings. Most recently, Ammo Baba received some donations from Iraqi officials to cover necessary medical treatment outside Iraq. Ammo Baba has diabetes, which resulted in the amputation of two of his right foot toes in a surgery he underwent last year in Amman, Jordan. He has been suffering from poor vision lately as well. Ammo Baba stated that stealing his money would delay his treatment and threaten his life.
As the coach of the Iraqi national football team, Ammo Baba led Iraq to three titles in the Arabian Gulf football tournaments and the gold medal at the 1982 Asian Games in India.

January 17, 2006

Assyrian Christian Deacon Abducted

A group disguised in the Iraqi National Guards uniforms knocked on the door of Deacon Sami Matti Sliwa (known also as Abu Addison). As the door was opened, they pushed themselves in, began to search the house, brought terror to the family, and when they found nothing they took Deacon Sliwa away. Two hours later, they called the family and told them that Deacon Sliwa was a hostage and that they were a kidnapping and robbery gang and demanded ransom. Deacon Sliwa is not a member of any political group or organization and he is the only provider of his family.

January 07, 2006

The Christian Science Monitor named female US freelancer Jill Carroll as the kidnapped journalist in Baghdad, Iraq. The kidnapping occured in the western Baghdad's Adil neighborhood on January 7, 2006. The body of her Assyrian interpreter, Allan Enwiya, 32, was later found in the same neighborhood. Enwiya was able to tell soldiers that Carroll had been kidnapped before he died from his wounds.

January 01, 2006

Ayad Loqa Lazar (born in 1962 in Kirkuk), a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement), was attacked and murdered today at 7:00 a.m. by terrorists while on duty in Dora district. Ayad was married and had two children.   

January 01, 2006

During demonstrations today in the quarters of Raheem Awa in Kirkuk, where Assyrians and Kurds live, Youkhana Yaqo Youkhana (born in 1936 in the Assyrian village of Deri) was killed by mistake by American troops who were shooting to clear up a demonstartion protesting the high prices of fuel. Youkhana was heading home from his work when he was caught up in the middle of the demonstration. Youkhana Yaqo is the father of Emad Youkhana, a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement.

December 24, 2005

Political Organizations Accuse the Kurdish Army of "Controlling Voting Centers" Accusations of Forgery in Mosul: A Town with 1000 Voters ended up with 5,000 Votes Cast.

December 21, 2005

Large Assyrian Turnout in Iraq Election Marred By Kurdish Voting Fraud

December 19, 2005

Official statements regarding election fraud

Mr. Younadam Kanna, the Secretary General of the Assyrian Democratic Movement and the Head of the Rafidain Slate (# 740) stated to Aswat al-Iraq that many irregularities and violations were committed against the ChaldoAssyrians in Kirkuk, Mosul, and Nineveh Plain towns, which constitute a Christian majority. He stated that his slate has presented many complaints to the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI). One of these
complaints concerns erasing the names of hundreds of ChaldoAssyrian families from the registration books, thus preventing them from voting. Other places in Arbil and Mosul were closed three hours earlier than scheduled under the pretext that all voting ballots were used and none were left. Other violations included the transgression and trespassing of the larger and more powerful slates and the interferences of the militias to influence the election process. Mr. Kanna hoped that the IECI would punish the responsible slates severely and to repeal all the votes that those slates gained due to their violations.

Charges of fraud and irregularities in the Iraqi election already are emerging from Iraqi Kurdistan. Election monitors say Kurdish militia refused to leave their weapons outside polling stations and refused to have their fingers inked to ensure no double voting. One Western election observer says all sides -- Kurds, Sunnis and Shia -- are "packing the vote."

Police Officer Ivan Giwargis Zaia was assassinated in al-Sina'aa Quarters in Mosul. Ivan was born in 1976. He was married and had one child.

Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) stops Assyrian group from campaigning during the period leading up to the general elections in Iraq.

Sarmad Behnam Ibrahim (b. 1974), an Assyrian, a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement and an officer in the Kirkuk Police Department, was murdered while on duty.

Gunmen in two cars opened fire today on four members of the Assyrian Democratic Movement as they hung Iraqi election posters in Mosul, killing two of them. One person was also wounded in the morning attack, according to Dr. Bahaldin al-Bakri from the Jumhouri hospital. The gunmen began firing while the party officials were pasting posters on walls for the coming parliamentary elections in al-Shuhadaa neighborhood in northeast Mosul around 1:30 p.m. local time.
The four ADM members are:
1. Martyr Yousif Nabil Ishmael - from Baghdeda (born 1986).
2. Martyr Gewargis Brikha Youkhana - from Nahla (born 1980).
3. Simon Edmon Youkhana, injured (born 1983).
4. Milad Zakkar Mansour (born 1987) – He is currently in a life threatening condition after receiving a gunshot wound to the head.

Baghdad police announced that a group of armed men stormed a Christian home in East Baghdad's al-Ghadeer quarters, which has a Christian majority, and killed four Christian women in the house.

On Wednesday, at approximately 5:00 p.m., a car bomb exploded near the Church of Mar Giwargis in the Assyrian quarters of Almas district in Kirkuk. One of the three civilian victims was an 18-year-old Assyrian Sarmad Fadi Kamil. His father was injured in the explosion.

October 29, 2005

At around 6:30 p.m., a white Opel stopped in front of Oil Engineer Michael Seeron Michael's house in Almas District. Five armed Kurds were in the car. As a group stepped out and knocked on the door, others kept the car running. As Michael opened the front door, the Kurds shot him with four bullets in his chest that killed him immediately. Michael, known to his close friends as Mikho, was the executive director for the northern branch of the Iraqi Oil Company. He had told his close friends that he was being threatened by members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) when they were visiting him at the company and they were asking him to quit his job and join the Kurdish party. Michael is survived by his seven sisters, who are scattered around the Globe.

A group of terrorists attacked an Assyrian family killing Younan Gharib and seriously injuring his wife and brother-in-law. Younan has been staying in Syria because of the conditions in Iraq. He had decided to return to Baghdad, move to northern Iraq, and live there among his extended family in a village by the Iraqi-Turkish border.

A group of armed men entered the apartment of Nomat'eel Hasra, an Assyrian woman living in the New Baghdad district, in eastern Baghdad, and killed her. No reasons are yet known

In the capital's New Baghdad neighborhood, gunmen opened fire on a Nissan pickup truck that was carrying six Assyrian security guards assigned to protect Ms. Pascale Warda Esho, Assyrian and the former Iraqi Minister of Displacement and Migration. Ms. Warda was not harmed in this attack. The body guards were on their way to collect Ms. Warda Esho. The identities of the guards killed were released as: 1. Daniel Nissan Philipos, 27, town of Dehe; 2. Ninos Nissan Philipos, 30, town of Dehe (brothers); 3. Mahir Muneb Hanna, 27, town of Telkepe; 4. Johnny Youkhanna David, 30, town of Dawedeya. Mr. Nabeel Matti, a commanding officer from Bartilla, was critically injured.

Two groups of armed men in military uniforms began shooting near a gas station in Bartella. Nabil Akram Ammona (b. 1968, married with two children) was killed instantly and Matti Shimon Sha'ya (b. 1950, married with four children) was hit in the head and is struggling to survive. It has been reported that the KDP member peshmerges killed the two Assyrian civilians by shooting them in the head. The Iraqi sources commented on the event and said that the Assyrians holding demonstrations against constitution resulted in the reaction of the Kurdish peshmerges. According to the received information, Nabil Akram Ammona was shot down dead in the head by the KDP peshmerges in Bartilla. While waiting the tank of his car to be filled up at the gas station the KDP pehmerges entering the station got out of their vehicles and approached Ammona and took the gas pump out of the tank of the car. Later, they killed Ammona shooting him in the head. Meanwhile, Matti Shimon Zora Sha'ya who wished to take Ammona to the hospital was shot by the same peshmerges and in the same way. Sha'ya who was taken to the hospital after the peshmerges escaped the crime scene and he lost his life.

On Sunday, August 14, 2005, Ayad Dawood Gergis was driving his car to work when he was attacked and killed by unknown gunmen.

On Thursday, August 11, 2005, Engineer Sa'aad Fouzi was kidnapped opposite Sonobor Hotel in al-Muhafada St in Kirkuk. His body was found later stabbed repeatedly and thrown in Kornish st. Sa'aad was 29 years old and worked as an engineer in Northern Oil Company.

In Baghdad, Dora quarters (al-Mekanik), Sargon Esho (born 1983) was shot and
killed on August 9, 2005 near Mar Zaia Church as he was attempting to do some groceries.

In Mosul, the body of Anita Theodoros Harjo (born 1985), a student in Nineveh Art Academy, was found on August 8, 2005, thrown in 'Akkab cemetery. Anita was kidnapped in al-Zohoor quarters while on her way to an Internet Café.

In Mosul, armed men kidnapped pharmacist Noel Potrus (born 1963) and his brother Amar and an Arab who worked in the pharmacy on August 6, 2005. Noel's body and that of the Arab were found thrown on the side road north of Mosul. Amar was released after paying $50,000 ransom.

On August 4, 2005, Dr. Noel Petros Shammas Matti was kidnapped by an unknown group. He was found dead the day after his abduction. Dr. Matti was born in the village of Bartilla in 1962; he was married and a father for two daughters. He was a lecturer at the Medical Institute of Mosul University and owned a pharmacy in the same city.

Gunmen fired on a car carrying newlyweds who were married last Wednesday and their families, killing the bride (Salay, 22) while wounding her mother, groom (Wisam Abdul Wahad, 24) and driver (Marcel Ishoo) in the southern Dora neighborhood of Baghdad according to police and medical officials.

A small explosion rocked the Assyrian Church in Habbaniya, Ramadi in Iraq. There was some damage to the roof of the church. No civilian injuries have been reported yet.

On Thursday, a Christian owner of a Liquor shop was killed. A car stopped in front of the store that sells in al-Karrada quarters in center Baghdad, an armed man stepped out of the car, and began shooting at the owner. The owner of the shop was killed instantly.

Younadam Youkhana Shimun (born 1963) was attacked and killed in a hate crime related motive. His son was injured in the operation. Mr. Shimun was married and had two sons and a daughter.

A car bomb exploded in the Arapha Assyrian quarters. Randy Robert Alexin (5 years young) who was riding with his parents in their own car was killed immediately, while both his parents were injured and transferred to a near by hospital. Funeral was held in St. George Church in Almas quarters.

Ghassan Fahmi, (b. 1977) owner of Ghassan's D.J. and Recording business, in al-Zuhoor quarter, was kidnapped by an unidentified group from his business place on Wednesday June 1. He was murdered and his body returned back two hours later.

It has been reported that Mr. Ninos Y. Khoshaba (grandson of Malik Khoshaba) and Mr. Youarish Sawrou the youngest brother of Mar Narsi (old Calendar Church of the East) were kidnapped five days ago, and to this moment no one has heard from the perpetrators nor the victims.

Laith Zuhair Gibraeil Hoodi (b. 1977) was killed immediately on Wednesday morning when a rocket hit his home in al-Sukkar quarters in Mosul. His mother I'atimad abd al-Ahad was hit by many splinters in her arms, legs, and other parts of her body, she remains in critical condition in the hospital.

Ishaq Habib Kola (b. 1953 in Alqosh) was killed when a bullet targeted him while he was inside his home. Ishaq worked in the medical field for some 25 years and dedicated his life for helping others. He was married and had 4 children. His aged father from Alqosh was visiting the family when the murder took place and Ishaq passed away in the arms of his old father.

Kifah Mattai Ibraham was found murdered in Mosul. He was kidnapped on March 3. He was born in 1962 and is married. He ran his own stone factory business in Mosul.

Karim Elia Abouna, an Assyrian originally from Alqosh, was murdered in the Assyrian quarters of Dora, Baghdad today. An armed group of men entered his shop, shot him five times with light guns and he was killed immediately.

General Wael Yousif Yacoub, a Chaldo-Assyrian, was assassinated earlier today while returning home from Baghdad, a reporter of the Iraqi News Agency said today. According to eyewitnesses, armed men surrounded the general's car and began shooting; he was killed immediately. General Yacoub worked as an officer in the Internal Affairs Department of the Kirkuk Police. He was credited with the re-opening of the Kirkuk police force after the fall of Saddam Hussein. General Yacoub represented the Christians' voice in the affairs dealing with the local Police Board and was an ex-officer in the Iraqi army. General Yacoub was also a deacon (shamasha) at the Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in Kirkuk and considerably respected in his community. Sources to Zinda Magazine indicate that lately General Yacoub had been openly criticizing the Kurdish position on the ownership of the city of Kirkuk. Wael was murdered when a car stopped next to his and began to fire at him. Wael was from Telkepe originally. He became a member of the ADM after the liberation of Iraq in April 9, 2003. He was an Engineer. He is married and had two daughters. Islamist Ansar al-Sunna army announced its responsibility for the killing.

Some 30 members of the gang of Mugtada al-Sadr (the al-Mahdi Army) attacked a group of Engineering College students of Basra University. The students were having a picnic at al-Andalus Park, downtown Basra , when a hooded gang in the name of Islam attacked and began to beat them with batons and sticks. One Christian student Zahra Ashor was killed and fifteen others students were badly injured. When a fellow student attempted to help Zahra, he was shot in the head. At least 20 students were kidnapped and taken to Sadr's office in al-Tuwaisa for 'interrogation' and were released late at night. The gang stole the student's belongings, including telephones, jewelry, and destroyed the tape recorder they were using to listen to music and many tapes. The attacks are because the female students were not wearing the Islamic hijab (veil) and because the students were listening to music.

Few days ago, two Assyrian Christians were kidnapped from their business place and then murdered by unidentified terrorist group. The two Christians owned a hall used for celebrations in Baghdad. The first victim is Fawzi Soorish Luqa of 'Ankawa (b. 1961) and the second Haitham Yousuf Saka of Bartella.

Sami Esho Khoshaba, aged 19, and a member of the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM), was a cadre in the al-Karkh Branch in Baghdad. He was shot and killed in Mosul, whilst on leave.

Dr. Sanabel Noel Al-Tabakh, an Assyrian Christian, was killed in al-Wahda district of the city of Mosul on her way to work. (Awaiting further info)

Taghreed Abd al-Masih Ishaq and her sister Hala, social service workers were killed in Mosul. They are residents and natives of the town of Bartilla, in the Nineveh Governorate. (Awaiting further info)

Tara Majeed Putrus, social service worker was also shot in Mosul. (Awaiting further info)

The three women are Tara Majeed Betros Al-Hadaya, Taghrid Abdul-Massih Ishaq Betros and her sister Hala Abdul-Massih Ishaq Betros.
The attack took place in the section between the Television area and the Kokajli area on the main road between Mosul and Bartilla. Also injured in the attack was another Assyrian woman, ‘Amera Nouh Sha'ana, who was also returning home to Bartilla and the Assyrian driver, Naji Betros Ishaq. The three female victims were in their twenties.

Five Assyrian (also known as Chaldeans and Suryan) and one Armenian Churches were bombed simultaneously in Baghdad and Mosul. Twelve Assyrians were killed and some 60 injured. The churches are:
1. Church Sayidat al-Najat (Our Lady of Salvation) - Karrada (Baghdad) - Syrian (Assyrian) Catholic Church
2. Church Sayidat al-Zohour (Our Lady of the Flowers) - Karrada (Baghdad) - Armenian Catholic Church
3. Sts. Peter & Paul - Doura, al-Meekanik quarters (Baghdad) – Chaldean Catholic Church Seminary
4. St. Paul Church - Center of Mosul
5. St. Elia - Ni'aayriyya oo Gayyara (New Baghdad) - Chaldean Catholic Church
6. St. Mary's Church in east Baghdad (car bomb disarmed by police)

Masuad Barazani and the Kurdish officials of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Dohuk have been marginalizing the presence of Assyrians in the supposedly new democratic Iraq. This, the KDP had practiced since 1992. The KDP has used its influence to install its own people in most of the high and sensitive administrative positions in Dohuk province such as deputy governor, qaimaqams for qadhas, or mayors for villages despite the fact that the Assyrians make the second largest ethnic group in the said province and make a majority in certain of these villages. The KDP's most recently has prevented Assyrian groups and organizations such as the Assyrian Democratic Movement (ADM), ChaldoAssyrian Women Union and ChaldoAssyrian Student Union in Dohuk from being part of the special electoral committee and from nominating their representatives from this province (governorate). This special electoral committee is to participate in the Iraqi national conference planned for end of July 2004. This, the Kurds have done despite the fact the Assyrian Democratic Movement has been part of every opposition group meetings before the fall of Saddam, then was part of the Iraqi Governing Council and today is part of the Iraqi Cabinet and is part of the high commission that is setting the stage for the national conference. Worth mentioning that from this national conference, a temporary Iraqi national Assembly should be selected until the national elections are held in January 2005and a permanent assembly is elected. The KDP is in violation of all previous agreements and understanding reached upon by Iraqi opposition groups before and since the fall of the Ba'ath regime. Every political group, institution, tribes, segment of society and notables were to take part in the democratic political process in the new Iraq.
Assyrians in the Diaspora call upon the Iraqi President, Prime Minister, government agencies, the United Nations and world organizations to interfere and undo the Kurdish oppression, marginalization and trespassing against the Assyrians in north of Iraq.

Latest news from Iraq indicate that the Kurds and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) officials under Masuad Barazani are preventing Assyrians from moving back to their original homes in Dohuk, north of Iraq, with the situation in Baghdad not improving. Meanwhile, the Kurdish officials have allowed many Kurdish families from Qamishli, Syria to move into Dohuk. These foreign Kurdish families have crossed the Iraqi borders and the KDP has secured for them food, shelter and all means possible to assist them to settle. Furthermore, the Kurds and KDP are forcing Assyrians to raise Kurdish flags in certain Assyrian villages and on top of Assyrian offices and homes in others.

Reuters

Yahoo

ADO World

Raymond Farouq Shimun (a 22 years old and son of Farouq and Juliet) was slain by the forces of evil in Mosul. His head was partially cut and his hands and legs were smashed. There was signs or effects of knife on his body, which suggest that he was terrified and suffered before he died. His body was thrown in a cemetery (a valley outside the city), after he was kidnapped on June 17, about 8:30 pm by five armed men not far from his home.

Zinda Magazine

Assyrian International News Agency

Husam George Tobeya, 31 years old, married and had one son. He was shot dead at a gas station in Baghdad. Consequently, his wife left Iraq. She and her son are currently in Jordan waiting to immigrate to the United States.
(Information received through relatives in the U.S.)

Assyrian International News Agency

Zinda Magazine