Murder and mayhem has again shown its face against the beleaguered Assyrian Community in Iraq. In anticipation of the fast approaching Iraqi elections to be held on March 7, certain ‘undefined’ peoples within Iraq have escalated the violence against Assyrians, at least eight Assyrian have been killed in the Mosul in the past two weeks. In January 2009 provincial polls 450 Christian families fled the city after at least 35 Assyrians were killed.
Threats Ahead of Elections
In Mosul, the situation remainds dire, a flyer was posted on the doors of Assyrian Christian homes in Mosul yesterday, stating: “Do not go to vote and do not elect Christians or you will die.”
Exodus
A UN report said Sunday that 4,098 Christians fled Mosul between February 20 and 27 following the attacks. It is estimated that between 15,000 and 20,000 Assryains live in Mosul. Since the 2003 US-led invasion, Al-Qaeda militants have been targeting Christians and other minorities. Hundreds of thousands have since fled Iraq to neighboring and European countries. The number of Christians in Iraq is estimated at nearly 600,000, and was over 1.2 million before 2003 invasion.
Rody
