Iraq
Iraqi Christians return to ransacked town with fear and hope
By Reuters — April 14, 2017
QARAQOSH, Iraq (Reuters) With the Islamic State group expelled, Iraqi Christians are trickling back to the ransacked town of Qaraqosh, beset by anxiety for their security and yet hopeful they can live in friendship with Muslims of all persuasions.
Trump issues revised travel ban for six majority-Muslim countries
By Yonat Shimron — March 6, 2017
(USA Today) The order no longer gives immigration preference to "religious minorities," such as Christians who claim they are persecuted in mostly Muslim countries.
Last letters : From Mosul schoolboys to Islamic State ‘martyrs’
By Stephen Kalin — March 3, 2017
MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) "My dear family, please forgive me," reads the handwritten letter discarded in the dusty halls of an Islamic State training compound. They were schoolboy Alaa Abd al-Akeedi's parting words before he set off to end his life in a suicide bomb attack.
Collecting human rights prize, Yazidi lawmaker calls travel ban ‘unfair’
By Adelle M. Banks — February 8, 2017
WASHINGTON (RNS) 'Iraqis are not terrorists,' said Vian Dakhil as she received a human rights prize. 'We are friends and allies.'
Trump ban will hurt Christian refugees fleeing conflict, say Iraqi Catholic leaders
By Josephine McKenna — January 30, 2017
ROME (RNS) The prelates blasted the president’s refugee ban, saying it's a 'trap' to keep 100,000 of their flock in limbo. One archbishop was forced to cancel a trip to Washington because of the executive order.
Chaldean archbishop urges Iraqi Catholics to stay and help rebuild
By Yonat Shimron — January 18, 2017
PARIS (RNS) Iraq’s Christian population has plummeted from about 1.5 million in 2003 to less than 300,000 last year.
Fearful Christmas in Baghdad after attacks on Christians
By Reuters — December 25, 2016
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraqi Christians have been in a heightened state of fear after deadly attacks on Christian-owned shops that sell alcohol.
Ransacked homes and little hope for returning Iraqi Christians
By RNS staff — November 29, 2016
(Reuters) Qaraqosh was Iraq's biggest Christian settlement before militants took over in 2014 and issued an ultimatum to residents: pay a tax, convert to Islam, or die.
Yazidis risk all to flee Islamic State
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 27, 2016
DUHOK, Iraq (Reuters) - Mass Yazidi graves have been found since Kurdish forces retook areas north of Sinjar in December 2014, and the town itself in November 2015, but Islamic State had already transferred many Yazidis to other areas, including Tal Afar.
White house condemns attack on Iranian Shiite pilgrims in Iraq
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 25, 2016
WASHINGTON - The target of the attack appears to have been a bus carrying Iranians returning from southern Iraq after participating in Arbaeen, a Shiite pilgrimage that is even larger than the Haj.
Christian heritage found ransacked in monastery retaken from Islamic State
By Jerome Socolovsky — November 21, 2016
KHIDIR ILYAS, Iraq, (Reuters) - The history pages of Iraq's Christian community lie in charred fragments on the floor of a fourth-century monastery near Mosul which Islamic State militants ransacked during a two-year occupation that ended over the weekend.
Millions of Shiites gather in Karbala to mark Arbaeen
By Sally Morrow — November 21, 2016
(RNS) Millions of Shiites are walking to Karbala to commemorate the death of Imam Hussein bin Ali.
Letter from Irbil: ‘As sisters, we are worried about the legacy of our land’
By guest — November 1, 2016
(RNS) 'On the one hand, we are grateful that our towns are eventually being recaptured. On the other hand, it is heartbreaking to see the damage that ISIS had caused,' write the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena.
Iraqi army drives ISIS from Christian region near Mosul
By Jerome Socolovsky — October 22, 2016
QAYYARA, Iraq (Reuters) - Earlier this week, Iraqi special units also captured Bartella, a Christian village north of Qaraqosh.
Report: Islamic State lost quarter of its Iraq, Syria territory in 18 months
By RNS staff — July 10, 2016
BEIRUT (Reuters) The territory controlled by ISIS shrank from 35,000 square miles in January 2015, six months after it declared a caliphate in Syria and Iraq, to 26,370 square miles, the research firm said.
