Islamic State (IS) extremists slaughtered 1,500 people in Iraq on 29 July, according to Canon Andrew White, the Vicar of St George’s Church in Baghdad.
Canon White wrote the following Facebook update on 30 July:-
“Over 1500 killed by Islamic State yesterday.
“Sorry FB is not working here so I am sending this message via the UK. Nothing is working here. The whole infrastructure is broken down. There is also no news getting out of here. Yesterday over 1500 people were killed. Did anybody hear this news? All we can do is pray, ‘Lord have mercy’.”
Canon White also wrote the following update on his blog (www.frrme.org):-
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Everyday we think that the crisis here cannot get worse and every day it does. Yesterday over 1500 people were killed and the Islamic State (formally known as ISIS) simply said we can do anything now the world is just looking at Gaza. In reality that is true Iraq seems like old news, yet things just get worse and worse here. It is as if hell has broken out here and nobody cares, that is apart from your our supporters who never leave us and keep supporting us in every way and to you I simply say thank you. Here are some of the awful pictures of yesterday. The situation is so serious and it is very easy to feel forgotten.
So many of our people have left or are planning to leave. Even here in Baghdad people are terrified of what is happening around us. The I.S. has established their hidden cells within Baghdad and people are seriously under threat even though they are not in the areas controlled by the I.S. The number of kidnappings here has soared and people simply do not know what is going to happen next.
We are still involved in providing a lot of support for the Christians who have fled Mosul and Nineveh to the North but we are staying here as our archdeacon is coming and we are really looking forward to this. We cannot really believe he is willing to come into this but he is. The support we have raised is going to the various established churches and they are sharing what is most needed with their people.
Please continue to pray for us and support us in our crisis.
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IS militants forced one of the oldest Christian communities in the world to flee Mosul, Iraq’s second oldest city on 19 July. The militants have declared an Islamic caliphate and now control vast territory across northern Iraq and Syria. Both Christians and Muslims have been slaughtered by the extremists with beheadings, crucifixions and shootings reported.