Iraqi Militants Take Over Christian Town
by Edward Yeranian August 07, 2014
Islamist extremists seized more territory in northern Iraq Thursday, capturing the country's largest dam and taking over several predominantly Christian towns. Thousands of residents were forced to flee.
The dam provides crucial water and electricity to millions of residents in the main northern city of Mosul. The militants overran Mosul on June 10. Kurdish forces in northern Iraq claim they still control the facility.
Pope Francis appealed to the international community to help end the 'humanitarian tragedy' in the country.
The overnight advance caught many Christian families by surprise, driving them from their homes with little warning and little chance to gather possessions.
Islamic State
Known as the Islamic State, the Sunni extremists have already taken over large swathes of territory in northwestern Iraq and neighboring Syria. The group has imposed a strict form of Islamic law in the area, enforced through beheadings, amputations and crucifixions.
After the attack on the mainly Christian town of Qaraqosh and three other towns, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters were forced to withdraw in the face of the rapid onslaught.
Chaldean Archbishop Joseph Thomas told AFP that "tens of thousands of terrified (Christians) are being displaced as we speak, it cannot be described." He added that their towns had been "emptied of their original residents and were now under the control of (IS) militants." He called on the U.N. Security Council to "intervene immediately."
Jabber Yawar, the head of the Kurdish Peshmerga militia, insisted that the Islamic State's attack caught his men by surprise because it took place in a lightly defended area.
He said it is well known that the area around Sinjar and Zumar are geographically wide expanses that are not well defended and have relatively few Peshmerga fighters for the lands they are defending. He says that before the June retreat of Iraqi government forces from Mosul, Peshmerga fighters jointly patrolled 1,000 kilometers of territory with them.
Yawar added that cooperation with the Iraqi military had resumed within the past few days after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki offered air cover to Kurdish fighters. Yawar noted that conditions were desperate for thousands of Yazidi refugees stranded in the Sinjar Mountains since Sunday.
An female Iraqi lawmaker from Kurdistan broke down and began sobbing on the floor of parliament, urging the body to intervene to help thousands of Yazidi refugees who had fled to the Sinjar Mountains over the weekend and were in need of food, water and shelter.
Meanwhile, as the Iraqi parliament met Thursday to discuss who should be country's next prime minister, lawmakers quarreled over parliamentary procedure and the use of mobile phones inside the chamber.
Outgoing Prime Minister Maliki insisted in his weekly television address Wednesday that parliament "must follow the constitution" and reappoint him to the post, or it would "open the gates of Hell," and allow "foreign states to intervene in Iraq." Top Shi'ite religious leaders and members of Mr. Maliki's own political bloc are urging him to step aside.
Baghdad suicide bombing
A suicide bomber driving a car killed 14 people in a Shi'ite area of Baghdad on Thursday, police and medical sources said.
The attack came while Islamic State Sunni militants pressed ahead with an offensive in northern Iraq that routed Kurdish forces and alarmed the Baghdad government and regional powers.
The group has previously claimed responsibility for bombings in Baghdad.
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