Christians erect new cross at church near Mosul to replace original destroyed by Islamic State

Record ID: 78288

  • Title: Christians erect new cross at church near Mosul to replace original destroyed by Islamic State
  • Date: 19th November 2016
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF CHURCH MINISTERS AND CITY OFFICIALS STANDING / AUDIO: MUSIC
  • Embargoed: 4th December 2016 11:53
  • Keywords: Iraq Christians Mosul Bashiqa church cross crucifix Islamic State bells Mar Korkeis
  • Location: BASHIQA, IRAQ
  • City: BASHIQA, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA002593ZHVR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Iraqi Christians erected a new crucifix over a church in Bashiqa on Saturday (November 19), after the original cross was destroyed by Islamic State militants.
    Church bells rang out from the Mar Korkeis church in the town near Mosul where Peshmerga soldiers and Iraqi forces, backed by U.S.-led air and ground forces, have been driving back the Sunni Muslim jihadists ahead of a battle for the city itself.
    Islamic State has targeted the adherents and religious sites of minority communities in both Iraq and Syria. When it seized control of Mosul two years ago it issued an ultimatum to Christians: pay a tax, convert to Islam, or die by the sword.
    Most abandoned their homes and fled towards the autonomous Kurdish region, deserting one of Christianity's earliest centres.
    It was from a Mosul mosque that Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a "caliphate" in 2014, spanning northern Iraq and eastern Syria. The recapture of the city would mark the effective defeat of the Iraqi wing of that domain.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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