The Kurdish news outlet Rudaw estimated in a report published Thursday that the southern Iraqi city of Basra lost 80 percent of its Assyrian, Chaldean, and Syriac Christians in the past two decades as a result of extreme persecution by jihadist groups.
Christians are indigenous to Iraq and have lived in substantial numbers in the country for two millennia. Despite this, and especially in the past 20 years, the community’s numbers have collapsed dramatically – first as a result of violence erupting following the American invasion in 2001, then escalating under the assault of the Islamic State “caliphate’s” genocide from 2014 to 2017.
Today, nearly 7 years after the fall of the “caliphate,” Iran-backed jihadist militias pose a significant threat to both Christian communities in the south and those who fled persecution and moved to the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
www.breitbart.com
Christians are indigenous to Iraq and have lived in substantial numbers in the country for two millennia. Despite this, and especially in the past 20 years, the community’s numbers have collapsed dramatically – first as a result of violence erupting following the American invasion in 2001, then escalating under the assault of the Islamic State “caliphate’s” genocide from 2014 to 2017.
Today, nearly 7 years after the fall of the “caliphate,” Iran-backed jihadist militias pose a significant threat to both Christian communities in the south and those who fled persecution and moved to the autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Report: Southern Iraq Lost 80% of Its Christians
The Kurdish news outlet Rudaw estimated that the southern Iraqi city of Basra lost 80 percent of its Christians.
www.breitbart.com
