[HOME ] [ABOUT] [PHOTOS] [VIDEO] [BLOG] [HOUSTON] [TEXAS] [U.S. NEWS] [WORLD NEWS] [SPORTS] [POP CULTURE] [CONTACT]
Christian towns in northern Iraq seized by Islamist rebels
by Joseph Earnest August 7, 2014
Newscast Media BAGHDAD—Militants from the Islamic State have seized Iraq's largest Christian town and surrounding areas in northern Iraq, prompting the exodus of tens of thousands of people.
The capture of Qaraqosh by the Sunni-led extremists on August 7 followed the overnight withdrawal of Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, who had suffered a humiliating defeat in the area over the weekend.
Before the Islamic State -- then known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) -- seized large swaths of western and northern Iraq in June and declared a caliphate, Qaraqosh had a population of about 50,000 people, mostly Christians.
But thousands of displaced Iraqis also fled to Qaraqosh and other nearby towns that were being defended by Kurdish fighters since the militants seized Mosul in June.
Militants also seized the mostly Christian towns of Tall Kayf, Bartella, and Karamlesh.
The other towns seized by the Islamic State on August 7 also had communities from the Shabak Shi'ite minority. Reports say almost all of the residents and displaced Iraqis have fled the towns.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on August 7 called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the advances of Islamic militants in Iraq.
Earlier, Pope Francis called for world governments to take steps to protect Christians driven from their villages in northern Iraq and provide them with humanitarian aid.
Meanwhile, Kurdish television reports that Mahmour and Gwar -- two Kurdish settlements less than 40 kilometers west of the Kurdish regional capital of Irbil -- fell to the militants on August 6.
The conquests put the jihadist fighters less than 20 kilometers from the border of northern Iraq's Kurdish autonomous region.
A UN spokesman on August 7 said a total of 200,000 people had fled fighting in northern Iraq in recent days, creating a "tragedy of immense proportions."
The Islamic State also claimed it had seized Iraq's largest dam, the Mosul Dam on the Tigris River, but Kurdish forces said the dam was still under their control.
The latest militant advances come despite a counterattack on Mosul that was launched by Kurdish fighters on August 6 in coordination with air strikes by Iraqi government forces.
Iraqi officials say one air strike on August 6 targeted a building in Mosul that was under the control of the Sunni militants, killing at least 60 people.
Medical workers said the building was a prison run by the Islamic State since it seized Mosul in June. Add Comments>>
Source: Radio Free Europe
|
|
Join the Newscast Media social networks
for current events and multimedia content.
Copyright© Newscast Media. All Rights Reserved. Terms and Privacy Policy