Iraq

The Iraqi government has increased security for Christian places of worship after the latest string of bombings killed four people and wounded another 35.

Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf, Iraq’s Interior Ministry spokesman, said the ministry issued directives to raise security at churches across the country, according to CNN.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s vice president Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni Muslim, “strongly condemned” the attacks on churches in a statement posted on his Web site. He called on the country’s security forces to locate the culprits and allow justice to take place. more >>

A church in Mosul became the seventh Iraqi church bombed over the course of just 48 hours.

At least three children were injured in the latest attack, caused by a car bomb that exploded near the church in eastern Mosul, according to CNN.

Around 7 p.m. the night before, a car bomb had exploded near the Virgin Mary Church in east Baghdad as worshippers left Sunday mass, killing at least four – three Christians and one Muslim – and injuring another 32. more >>

A five-year-old Christian boy was kidnapped and executed by an unknown group who demanded a ransom of $50,000 for his release, a persecution watchdog group reported this week.

Tony Adwar Shawell was kidnapped on March 5. His body was found with numerous bullet wounds on May 11, according to International Christian Concern.

Since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 it has become commonplace for criminal gangs and Islamic militants to kidnap and murder Christians. Christians are often mistakenly believed to have rich relatives in the West, making them a prime target for kidnappings. The identity of the Shawell's killers is so far unknown. more >>

WASHINGTON – Fear keeps Iraqi Christians quiet about the extent of persecution the tiny minority group endures, said an Iraqi Catholic archbishop Tuesday at a private meeting with religious freedom experts and journalists.

These Christians do not fear only for their own safety, but they are afraid of retribution against fellow believers in Iraq if they speak out, explained the Most Rev. Jean Benjamin Sleiman, the head of the Latin mass church in Iraq, at a Hudson Institute hosted luncheon. This mindset has kept even Iraqi Christians in the United States and other western nations relatively quiet about the severe Christian persecution in their homeland.

It is as if Iraqi Christians speak two different languages, the archbishop told the small group of Americans gathered for the invitation-only event. To the pope they say they are being persecuted, he said, but to the public they say they are living well with occasional problems. more >>

Two Christian families in the city of Kirkuk, Iraq, were attacked Sunday night in two separate incidences, according to the police.

The first attack on a Christian woman and her daughter resulted in the deaths of both, while the second attack left one man dead. Two others – the father and the brother of the slain man – in the latter attack were wounded.

Round-the-clock security patrols and check points have since increased around the area as fears that further attacks could spark a mass exodus of Christians from the area. more >>

The vice president of Iraq, Adel Abdul Mahdi, urged the country’s Christian population to resist fleeing Iraq and called on the international community to help protect the dwindling minority group from extremists.

Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, some 250,000 to 500,000 Christians have left the country. Christians, although making up only three percent of Iraq’s population, account for nearly half of the refugees leaving Iraq, according to the U.N. High Commission for Refugees.

"The position of Iraqi Christians is vulnerable and Iraq must not be left alone to face this. It's a collective task," said Abdul Mahdi, a Shiite Muslim, at a conference hosted by the French Institute of International Relations in Paris on Wednesday, according to Agence France-Presse. more >>