ALQOSH, Iraq – Over
the past decade, Iraqi Christians have fled repeatedly to this ancient
mountainside village, seeking refuge from violence, then returning home
when the danger eased. Now they are doing it again as Islamic militants
rampage across northern Iraq, but this time few say they ever want to go
back to their homes.
The
flight is a new blow to Iraq's dwindling Christian community, which is
almost as old as the religion itself but which has already been
devastated since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. During the past 11 years,
at least half of the country's Christian population has fled the
country, according to some estimates, to escape frequent attacks by
Sunni Muslim militants targeting them and their churches.
...
Iraq was
estimated to have more than 1 million Christians before the 2003
invasion and topping of Saddam Hussein. Now church officials estimate
only 450,000 remain within Iraq borders. Militants have targeted
Christians in repeated waves in Baghdad and the north. The Chaldean
Catholic cardinal was kidnapped in 2008 by extremists and killed.
Churches around the country have been bombed repeatedly.
The
exodus from Mosul — a Sunni-majority city that during the American
presence in Iraq was an al-Qaida stronghold — has been even more
dramatic. From a pre-2003 population of around 130,000 Christians, there
were only about 10,000 left before the Islamic State fighters overran
the city a week ago.
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