ISTANBUL (Compass Direct News) – Attacks against Christian Assyrian businesses in northern Iraq over the weekend, which local sources said were organized by a pro-Islamic political party, marked the first such destruction of Christian establishments in the Kurdish region.

The rampage threatens the frail security of Iraq’s dwindling Christian population, sources said.

After mullah Mala Ismail Osman Sindi’s sermon claiming there was moral corruption in massage parlors in the northern town of Zakho on Friday (Dec. 2), a group of young men attacked and burned shops in the town, most of them Christian-owned. The businesses included liquor stores, hotels, a beauty salon and a massage parlor, according to Ankawa News.

“The interesting thing with this incident is the place where it happened,” Archdeacon Emanuel Youkhana of the Assyrian Church of the East said. “KRG [the Kurdish Regional Government] is, for the most part, safe and secure, and all inhabitants enjoy prosperity and security, until now at least. The future is, by all means, bleak for the Christians and other minorities living there.”

Some of the assailants waved banners stating, “There Is No God but Allah,” according to Ankawa News. Sources said local authorities were slow in responding, resulting in heavy financial losses.

Thousands of Christians had fled to the Kurdish region since the U.S.-led military intervention in Iraq in 2003.

Mullah Sindi denied accusations that he provoked the violence against northern Iraq’s Christian community, according to Ankawa News. After Sindi’s sermon, a man reportedly stood up in the mosque and said that since there were un-Islamic massage parlors in Zakho, Muslims should go destroy them. The mob started with the town’s only massage parlor and continued to stores selling liquor and three hotels, where they lit fires, according to Ankawa News.

Later on Friday, the mob tried to attack the Christian quarters of Zakho, but authorities stopped them.

Violence also erupted on Saturday morning (Dec. 3) on the outskirts of Dohuk in two Christian neighborhoods, where groups attacked liquor stores and burned a Christian cultural club. Yesterday (Dec. 5) small pockets of violence against Christian communities were quickly extinguished near the Kurdish capital, Erbil, and in the center of Sulaymaniyah, 200 kilometers (124 miles) south.

In Zakho, near the border with Turkey, owners of liquor shops and other establishments whose shops were burned and vandalized found leaflets on the walls of their destroyed shops yesterday (Dec. 5) threatening to kill them if they re-opened, according to Ankawa News. Some of the shop owners were Yezidis, a local religious sect.

The attacks were reportedly organized by the Kurdistan Islamic Union party, which is inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood, one of the region’s oldest Islamist parties and founded in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood strives to influence governments in the region toward more Islamic values.

In retaliation for the Zakho attacks, members of the Kurdish ruling party, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), on Friday evening (Dec. 2) burned an Islamic Union office in Zakho. Over the weekend, KDP members ransacked and destroyed 10 Islamic Union offices in Dohuk province. The KDP claimed the Islamic Union planned the weekend attacks, and the Islamic Union blamed the KDP for storming their offices in retaliation, according to Ankawa News.

The unrest in the KRG in the last few days is a reflection of the unrest in the region, and as commonly happens, Christians were caught in the middle as innocent victims, Christian sources told Compass.

“I think these attacks were organized,” Chaldean Archbishop of Kirkuk Louis Sako said. “They might be connected not only to domestic issues, but also to events outside the country. Unfortunately, it’s always the Christians who pay the price.”

The motives of the mobs in Zakho were not purely religious, according to General Secretary of the Chaldo-Assyrian Student and Youth Union Kaldo Oghanna. Some of the young men may have attacked the mostly Christian establishments out of religious motives, but Oghanna said many of them joined the attacks only out of frustration toward the government. Others probably joined for personal benefit, as some members of the mob stole money and even liquor from the shops they destroyed, he said.

Most importantly, however, the attacks reflect the attitude of intolerance and discrimination that threaten the stability, safety and democratic process of the Kurdish region, Oghanna said.

“This attack is not a normal attack,” Oghanna said. “It threatened our businesses, and it is threatening the situation in Kurdistan. They attacked the democracy of the Kurdish region, its safety and security. Of course, we think there are international and domestic influences that made this situation escalate, but we also think this is in the mentality of those people: that they do not tolerate those who are different. This is our real struggle here.”

The greatest challenge of Iraq’s Christian Assyrian community since 2003 has been its dwindling population. The waves of the Iraqi Christian exodus have usually come after violent attacks on their communities. Archbishop Sako said he fears this attack may inspire more to leave.

“Now, maybe, because Christians are shocked and afraid, they will start to emigrate, and this is a bigger challenge,” he said. “We are encouraging them to stay.”

BAGHDAD, IRAQ (ANS) – A car bomb exploded outside a Catholic church in central Kirkuk, Iraq, early Tuesday, wounding at least 20 people, authorities said.

According to CNN, the attack took place in Kirkuk’s Shatterlo neighborhood around 5:30 a.m. (10:30 p.m. Monday ET). The network cited a police official who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

CNN said the wounded included staff from the Holy Family Church and people with homes nearby. The Interior Ministry stated 23 people were injured.

The CNN report said police told the network the explosion damaged the church and a number of nearby houses. Kirkuk is an ethnically-divided city located about 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Baghdad.

In the past few years, extremists have carried out major attacks against churches. An October 31, 2010 attack on the Sayidat al-Nejat Cathedral, or Our Lady of Salvation Church, left 70 people dead and 75 wounded, including 51 congregants and two priests.

CNN said the Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella group that includes a number of Sunni Muslim extremist organizations and has ties to al Qaeda in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the Baghdad church siege.

CNN expalined that religious minorities, such as Christians and Yazidis, make up less than 5 percent of Iraq’s population, according to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Since 2003, attacks against these minorities by insurgents and religious extremists have driven more than half of the minorities out of the country, according to UNHCR statistics.

Ivana Kvesic, reporting for the Christian Post at www.christianpost.com , said that in a coordinated effort to generate fear among Iraqi Christians, the attack occurred in the ethnically- and religiously-diverse city of Kirkuk outside a Syrian Catholic Church on Tuesday around 6 a.m.

In an online report, The Christian Post said at least 23 people were wounded in the attack, mostly from surrounding homes. The church’s parish leader, Imad Yalda, was inside the church during the bombing and was also among the wounded.

Following the attack, two other car bombs were also found outside Kirkuk’s Christian Anglican Church and the Mar Gourgis church.

The bombs were defused by security forces prior to their explosion, the website said.

Kirkuk’s Deputy Police Chief, Torhan Abdulrahman said of the attack, “It was a coordinated attack to target churches at the same time.”

The Rev. Haithem Akram, of one of the targeted churches in today’s attacks said, “The terrorists want to make us flee Iraq, but they will fail. We are staying in our country.”

According to the Christian Post, Iraqi’s Christian minority, formally standing at around 1.4 million, has been significantly downsizing its presence in the country since the ousting of Saddam Hussein in 2003, with close to 1 million having fled to other regions in Iraq or leaving the country to seek refuge.

The website explained that Christians in Iraq are targeted predominately by Sunni extremists who find Christians in the country to be “non-believers.” Christian pastors in Iraq have spoken out against Christian persecution in their country arguing for more government support and protection.

Canon Andrew White, who leads the St. George’s Anglican Church in Baghdad, has spoken out against the violence, but has also argued that the violence has only served to strengthen Christian unity in the country.

Violence directed at Iraq’s Christian minority hit an all-time high last October when 52 people were killed and dozens wounded in an attack on Baghdad’s Our Lady of Salvation Catholic Church.

The website said an al-Qaida affiliated group claimed responsibility for the attacks that saw gunmen and suicide bombers storm the church and kill worshipers.

It was the most deadly attack on Christians in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion of the country.

The wesite said that today’s attacks come on the same day that a Baghdad court convicted three Iraqis to death for their role in last year’s church siege.

COVENTRY, ENGLAND (ANS) — Hundreds of Iraqi Christians are fleeing Baghdad and Mosul as murderers target families in their homes and workplaces.

According to a news release from the Barnabas Fund, an elderly Christian couple and their daughter became the latest victims of a continuing campaign against the country’s believers when they were killed in their home on Dec. 5. Four gunmen raided the property in Baghdad and repeatedly shot them with pistols equipped with silencers.

The Barnabas Fund said the victims, Hikmat and Samira Sammak – like many Iraqi Christians – had left the capital and gone to live in the north. They had just returned briefly to Baghdad to finalize the sale of their home and furniture.

Two weeks ago, the Barnabas Fund said, Christian brothers Saad and Raad Hannah were shot dead in their car workshop in Mosul. The incident followed the assassination of two other Christians by gunmen who burst into their Mosul home.

These raids come, the Barnabas Fund said, after the Oct. 31 hostage siege at a Baghdad church that left more than 50 people dead. The Islamic State of Iraq – an Al-Qaeda front group – claimed responsibility for that attack and threatened further violence. They said the “killing sword will not be lifted, ” and that Christians everywhere were “legitimate targets.”

Leaving in Waves

As the situation becomes increasingly dangerous, the Barnabas Fund said, Christian families are leaving Baghdad and Mosul – either fleeing the country altogether or heading in waves to the northern cities of Erbil and Sulaimaniyah in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. About 500 families are reported to be on the move to the Kurdish region.

The refugees leave behind their homes, possessions and work. The Barnabas Fund said although authorities have promised to give $400 to every family who moves, some Christians have said this is not enough to cover even one month’s rent for an apartment in the north.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Fund, said in the news release, “Christians in Iraq are facing the agonizing dilemma of either living in constant fear if they stay in their homes or losing everything if they leave. We must continue to uphold our Iraqi brothers and sisters in prayer, and be ready to provide for their practical needs during this crisis.”

The Barnabas Fund asked for prayer for all those affected by this ongoing issue.

The Barnabas Fund supports Christian communities around the world facing poverty and persecution.

For more information go to www.barnabasfund.org

The General Secretariat of the Adherent of Islam Brigade has decided to address the final warning to … the infidel Christian Crusaders … and order you to leave immediately, in masses and permanently from the Muslim countries. There is no place for you infidel Christians among the Muslim believers in Iraq from now on. Otherwise, our swords will be legalized over your neck.

The letter is part of a determined Islamist campaign to drive out the Christian community from Iraq. Although the Christians, as ethnic Assyrians, are the indigenous people of Iraq, Muslim extremists are trying to “cleanse” the country of their supposedly defiling presence. In the face of threats such as these, which are often followed through in violence and even murder, the Christian population has dwindled from 1.5 million in 1990 and today may number no more than 400,000.

In the killings on Sunday 26 April in Kirkuk, which lies about 150 miles north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, a Christian man, Yussef Saba, was shot dead, and two of his close relatives were injured. In the other attack a Christian woman and her daughter-in-law were murdered in their home.

The manner of the killings suggests premeditated execution, intended to send a warning to Iraqi Christians and foster a climate of fear. They recall the violence of last October in Mosul, when thousands of Christians fled from their homes in the northern city of Mosul. Fearing a similar exodus from Kirkuk, church and government leaders have called on the Christian community to stand firm and not be intimidated. The vice-president of Iraq has called upon Christians “not to leave the country” and has requested the international community to give “help and protection” against the militants.

Dr Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of Barnabas Aid, said, “The murder of three Christians in Kirkuk proves once again that Islamist militants are quite capable of carrying out their threats against the Christian community. The forthcoming withdrawal of American troops from the country is likely to make the churches’ position even more perilous. They need our support to sustain them in their time of need.”

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The Assyrian International News Agency AINA reported on its web site that the letter ordered all Christians to immediately leave Iraq. The letter said its writers are sending a final warning to Christians in Baghdad and other Iraqi areas to leave Iraq permanently.

AINA reported that the letter was published on Al-Ittihads website, a daily newspaper that covers Iraqi politics.

AINA provided this translation of the letter.

It read, “The General Secretariat of the Adherent of Islam Brigade has decided to address the final warning to you and to all your adherents and flocks, the infidel Christian Crusaders, in Baghdad and the other governorates and order you to leave immediately, in masses and permanently from the Muslim countries Iraq and to join Pope Benedict the sixteenth and his followers who crossed over the greatest symbols of humanity and Islam.”

AINA said the letter continued, “There is no place for you infidel Christians among the Muslim believers in Iraq from now on. Otherwise, our swords will be legalized over your neck and the necks of you followers and flocks similar to what happened to the Christians living in Mosul.”

The letter ended, “God is our witness. He who warns is excused. The General Secretariat of the Adherents of Islam Brigade.”

-from Assist News Services-

The two sisters were murdered as the terrorists stormed into their house. Their mother was severely injured as a result of stab wounds. In addition, the terrorists placed a bomb in the house, which destroyed the small building. A police officer said the terrorists placed another bomb near the house. It exploded when the police arrived and injured three officers.

The incident came as more than 200 displaced Christian families from Mosul started to return to their houses in Mosul following the deploying of more Iraqi troops in the city. More than half of the families did return in the last two weeks. It is believed this latest violent incident will slow or stop the returning of these families. Approximately 2,000 families have fled the city over the past month due to Muslim extremist violence, which has also resulted in an estimated 25 to 40 Christian deaths.

Open Doors continues to support the families that have left Mosul and live somewhere in the Nineveh plain. Open Doors immediately responded by offering relief for approximately 200 families. Initially, relief consists of food packages, blankets and cookers, but soon, with the winter upcoming, also heaters and other help will be needed.

Please pray for the injured mother of the two murdered sisters, for healing of the emotional and physical damage and for the returning families. Pray that Iraqi Christians will have a place to feel free, safe and protected.

An estimated 100 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with millions more facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors supports and strengthens believers in the worlds most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers.

To partner with Open Doors USA, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 888-524-2535 or go to their Website at www.OpenDoorsUSA.org .