Iraq's largest Christian town has been overrun over by militants from Islamic State - formerly Isis - according to fleeing residents and Christian clerics, as jihadists lauch overnight raids across the north
Islamic State militants have overrun Qaraqosh, Iraq's largest Christian town, after pushing back Kurdish troops across a large area of the north of the country, fleeing residents and Christian clerics have said.Jihadists moved in overnight to claim several Christian towns, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee, having pushed back Kurdish peshmerga troops, who are stretched thin across several fronts in Iraq.
"I now know that the towns of Qaraqosh, Tal Kayf, Bartella and Karamlesh have been emptied of their original population and are now under the control of the militants," Joseph Thomas, the Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk and Sulaimaniyah, told AFP.
"It's a catastrophe, a tragic situation. We call on the UN Security Council to immediately intervene. Tens of thousands of terrified people are being displaced as we speak, it cannot be described," the archbishop said.
The overnight advance came after the Sunni militants inflicted a humiliating defeat on Kurdish forces in a weekend sweep in the north.
Several residents contacted by AFP confirmed that the entire area in northern Iraq, home to a large part of the country's Christian community, had fallen to the Islamic State jihadist group.
Tal Kayf, the home of a significant Christian community as well as members of the Shabak Shiite minority, also emptied overnight.
"Tal Kayf is now in the hands of the Islamic State. They faced no resistance and rolled in just after midnight," said Boutros Sargon, a resident who fled the town and was reached by phone in Arbil.
"I heard some gunshots last night and when I looked outside, I saw a military convoy from the Islamic State. They were shouting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is greatest)," he said.
Islamic State militants have overrun Qaraqosh, Iraq's largest Christian town, after pushing back Kurdish troops across a large area of the north of the country, fleeing residents and Christian clerics have said.Jihadists moved in overnight to claim several Christian towns, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee, having pushed back Kurdish peshmerga troops, who are stretched thin across several fronts in Iraq.
"I now know that the towns of Qaraqosh, Tal Kayf, Bartella and Karamlesh have been emptied of their original population and are now under the control of the militants," Joseph Thomas, the Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk and Sulaimaniyah, told AFP.
"It's a catastrophe, a tragic situation. We call on the UN Security Council to immediately intervene. Tens of thousands of terrified people are being displaced as we speak, it cannot be described," the archbishop said.
The overnight advance came after the Sunni militants inflicted a humiliating defeat on Kurdish forces in a weekend sweep in the north.
Several residents contacted by AFP confirmed that the entire area in northern Iraq, home to a large part of the country's Christian community, had fallen to the Islamic State jihadist group.
Tal Kayf, the home of a significant Christian community as well as members of the Shabak Shiite minority, also emptied overnight.
"Tal Kayf is now in the hands of the Islamic State. They faced no resistance and rolled in just after midnight," said Boutros Sargon, a resident who fled the town and was reached by phone in Arbil.
"I heard some gunshots last night and when I looked outside, I saw a military convoy from the Islamic State. They were shouting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is greatest)," he said.
As many as 40,000 people from iraq's religious minority groups are stranded on Mount Sinjar in a bid to make it to the autonomous Kurdistan region.
Most of the refugees, who fled their home city of Sinjar when it was seized by Islamic State at the weekend, are members of the Yazidi community. The Yazidis are an offshoot from Zoroastrianism and the “Peacock Angel” at the centre of their beliefs is associated by some Sunni Muslims with Satan.
This makes them especially vulnerable to the sectarian attacks practised by Islamic State, which refers to them as “devil-worshippers”.
The foreign minister of Iraqi Kurdistan has said America has a "moral responsibility" to intervene
“We are left alone in the front to fight the terrorists of ISIS,” Falah Mustafa Bakir told CNN.
“I believe the United States has a moral responsibility to support us, because this is a fight against terrorism, and we have proven to be pro-democracy, pro-West, and pro-secularism.”
Most of the refugees, who fled their home city of Sinjar when it was seized by Islamic State at the weekend, are members of the Yazidi community. The Yazidis are an offshoot from Zoroastrianism and the “Peacock Angel” at the centre of their beliefs is associated by some Sunni Muslims with Satan.
This makes them especially vulnerable to the sectarian attacks practised by Islamic State, which refers to them as “devil-worshippers”.
The foreign minister of Iraqi Kurdistan has said America has a "moral responsibility" to intervene
“We are left alone in the front to fight the terrorists of ISIS,” Falah Mustafa Bakir told CNN.
“I believe the United States has a moral responsibility to support us, because this is a fight against terrorism, and we have proven to be pro-democracy, pro-West, and pro-secularism.”
(Telegraph)
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