Thousands of Iraqi Christians seek refuge in Kurdistan
- 10 years ago
In Iraq, thousands of Christians have been fleeing their homes and heading towards the Kurdistan region for refuge.
They arrived in cars and on foot at the capital Irbil, after Sunni insurgents attacked several Christian villages.
There was anger at what is being seen as a lack of Iraqi forces on the ground.
One man who had been displaced said: “The security situation now is zero. ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) came and hit Qaraqosh Al Hamdinya with rockets, so people in Al Hamdinya all fled. We’ve seen no soldiers, no army, nobody. There are no checkpoints, there is no army. We haven’t seen officials at all. So we left all our stuff, our beds, our money. My car was taken by ISIL.”
The United Nations says that at least 900 civilians have been killed in fighting in Iraq this month.
Government forces are continuing their battle to defend Iraq’s largest oil refinery in Baiji; north of Baghdad, which has been running for 10 days
Meanwhile Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has rejected calls for a national salvation government
They arrived in cars and on foot at the capital Irbil, after Sunni insurgents attacked several Christian villages.
There was anger at what is being seen as a lack of Iraqi forces on the ground.
One man who had been displaced said: “The security situation now is zero. ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) came and hit Qaraqosh Al Hamdinya with rockets, so people in Al Hamdinya all fled. We’ve seen no soldiers, no army, nobody. There are no checkpoints, there is no army. We haven’t seen officials at all. So we left all our stuff, our beds, our money. My car was taken by ISIL.”
The United Nations says that at least 900 civilians have been killed in fighting in Iraq this month.
Government forces are continuing their battle to defend Iraq’s largest oil refinery in Baiji; north of Baghdad, which has been running for 10 days
Meanwhile Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has rejected calls for a national salvation government