Assyrian Christians flee Iraq’s Mosul
Nineveh- Assyria- Iraq
24-02-2010
Christian families are fleeing Mosul in droves in the aftermath of the murder of a Christian family in the city. Our correspondent in the city says the flight is a reminder of the 2008 exodus in which thousands of families fled the city. The fleeing families are heading for the string of Christian villages, towns, churches and monasteries to the east and north of the city.
Anti-Christian attacks have intensified recently in the city, the second largest in Iraq. Five more Christians were killed in the past two weeks. Many Christians were openly told to leave or face the consequences. Violence has relatively receded in Iraq in the past two years, but Mosul remains one of the most volatile and violent in the country.
Tensions are building up between Kurds and Arabs in Mosul and its outskirts which Kurdish militias have occupied. Kurdish militiamen are even heavily present inside the city itself, but neither the Kurdish militias nor Iraqi troops are doing enough to put an end to Christian suffering in the city.
Observers say the Christians in the city are most probably paying for the struggle over territory between the Arab majority and Kurdish minority in the Province of Nineveh of which Mosul is the capital. Iraqi Christians are of divided loyalty despite their shaky situation. Some of their factions openly support the Kurds. Others have aligned with Arabs. The observers say the struggle over Christian votes might be one of the reasons behind the latest anti-Christian campaign.
The majority of Iraq’s Christians, are Assyrians, 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.
Agencies
