"Thousands of Christians have fled Iraq's second-largest city as an Islamist terror group solidifies its control over Christianity's main remaining stronghold in the struggling nation. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), an Iraq and Syria-based Sunni offshoot of al-Qaeda, took over Mosul (pop. 1.8 million) earlier this month, the BBC reports. Most of Mosul's remaining Christian population of 3,000 fled for safer areas, according to World Watch Monitor. All of Iraq is under a state of alert, according to the Iraqi government. Mosul itself is in a state of "anarchy," with armed patrols on the streets and families holed up in homes.
"Things are so bad now in Iraq, the worst they have ever been," writes Canon Andrew White, vicar of St. George's Anglican Church in Baghdad. "The Islamic terrorists have taken control of the whole of Mosul which is Nineveh the main Christian stronghold. The army [has] even fled. We urgently need help and support. … We are in a desperate crisis."
Iraq's Christian population has shrunk in recent years from 1.2 million in the early 1990s to an estimated 300,000 before the most recent attacks. Christian refugees are fleeing to surrounding areas and as far away as Europe. They are fleeing severe violence targeting them, including church attacks, killings, robberies, and rapes."
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--excerpt from Gleanings, Christianity Today Online Click here to see entire article
