Kurds, Arabs Cooperate; Christians Suffer

BAGHDAD (UPI) -- Kurdish and Iraqi forces conducted joint patrols in Diyala province in a sign of growing civility, while Christians face threats in the wake of a U.S. deadline.

U.S. Army Gen. Ray Odierno, who commands U.S. and international forces in Iraq, presented commendations to Iraqi and Kurdish soldiers who took part in a combined military operation, the U.S. military reports.

Analysts had predicted that tensions between the central government in Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government could push Iraq back toward civil war if left unresolved prior to the departure of U.S. forces.

U.S. combat troops under the terms of a bilateral security agreement with Baghdad pulled back to their military bases June 30. The level of violence in Iraq has increased in the period surrounding the deadline, with ethnic and sectarian attacks mounting.

In the latest spate of violence, six churches in the Baghdad area were attacked during the weekend, which the Voices of Iraq news agency reports claimed at least four lives and injured more than 30.

Meanwhile, a bomb injured three children at a Christian church in the northern city of Mosul on Monday.

Attacks on the Christian minority in Iraq are not uncommon. A spate of targeted attacks on the Christian community in Iraq in late 2008 displaced roughly half of the religious minority to neighboring Syria.

Courtesy of Christians of Iraq

Baghdad churches bombed

From CNN:

4 killed, 32 wounded as 6 Baghdad churches bombed

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- At least four people were killed and 32 wounded as six Baghdad-area churches were bombed within 24 hours, officials told CNN.

The first bombing took place Saturday night at St. Joseph's church in western Baghdad, according to an Interior Ministry official. Two bombs placed inside the church exploded at about 10 p.m. No one was in the church at the time of the attack.

Sunday afternoon, three bombs exploded outside churches, wounding eight civilians, the official said. The bombs detonated within a 15-minute span, between 4:30 and 4:45 p.m. Two of the churches are in central Baghdad's al-Karrada district, and the third is in al-Ghadeer in eastern Baghdad.

Sunday evening, a car bomb exploded outside a church on Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad just after 7 p.m., the official said. Four people died, and 21 were wounded.

And in southern Baghdad's Dora district, a bomb outside a church wounded three other civilians.

Most of the churches were damaged in the bombings, according to video footage.

One Christian Iraqi, interviewed outside Sacred Heart Church -- one of the two in al-Karrada -- said the bomb went off shortly before 5 p.m., as members were arriving for Sunday evening mass. No one was hurt, Sabhan George told CNN, but the bomb damaged the church building and some cars outside.

George said he is concerned about the church bombings. If this continues, he said, "there will be no Christians left in Iraq."

St. Joseph's was one of six churches hit by coordinated bombings of Christian houses of worship in Baghdad and Mosul in 2004. The church is in the al-Jamiaa neighborhood of Baghdad, a former stronghold of al Qaeda in Iraq. There have been recent reports of an increase in targeted attacks in the area.

Many of Iraq's estimated 1 million Christians have fled the country after targeted attacks by extremists. In October, more than a thousand Iraqi families fled the northern city of Mosul after they were reportedly frightened by a series of killings and threats by Muslim extremists, who apparently ordered them to convert to Islam or face possible death. At least 14 Christians were killed in Mosul in the first two weeks of October.

Separately, gunmen shot and killed an official in the Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Sunday morning, a local police official told CNN.

Using guns with silencers, the assailants opened fire on Rizko Aziz Nissan outside his home in central Kirkuk at 8:15 a.m.

Nissan was an Iraqi Christian, but the motives behind his killing were not immediately clear. Kirkuk is 150 miles (240 kilometers) north of Baghdad.

AP: Iraqi Christians slowly returning home to Mosul

"Iraqi Christians have started to trickle home to the restive city of Mosul in recent days as attacks against them have tapered off, authorities said Friday."

Read the rest here.

Christianity in Iraq, Part 8

After viewing this final video in my Iraq series, readers are asked to do the following:
1) Read this article from over the weekend: Christians flee Iraqi city
2) Visit this website, and forward it to every Christian you know: Iraqi Christians in Need
3) Most importantly, include in your prayers every day the many suffering Christians in Iraq.

Christianity in Iraq, Part 7

A beautiful and stirring tribute to two Syriac Orthodox Christian martyrs.

Note: The flag you will see is that of the Syriac-Aramaic People

Christianity in Iraq, Part 6

Christianity in Iraq, Part 5

The woman being interviewed mentions Fr. Ragheed Ganni, who, with three deacons, was gunned down on the steps of his church in Mosul on 3 June, 2007, while I was in Kirkuk.

Chrisitanity in Iraq, Part 4

Christianity in Iraq, Part 3

Continued from yesterday...

Christianity in Iraq, Part 2

Christianity in Iraq, Part 1

When the Apostles disbursed throughout the known world, St Thomas and his disciples headed east to spread the Gospel in India, establishing churches along the way in Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Parthia. He eventually died a martyr's death in India after baptizing hundreds of Asians into the Church.

While I was in Kirkuk, I learned that some of the churches St Thomas founded in northern Iraq still exist and practice the Liturgy in Aramaic.

In honor of St Thomas, whose feast is celebrated today in churches that follow the new calendar, the next several posts on this blog will be dedicated to something about which we hear very little: Iraqi Christians.

This series is not intended to incite a discussion of how or why these Christians found themselves in the situation they are in, nor to speculate on the best political remedy. There are plenty of other places online for that sort of discussion.

It is meant to prompt awareness of a population of Christians who are suffering and need our prayer.