Release International

Four Christians have been murdered in Iraq in the space of two days – confirming the church's fears that persecution is far from over.

Three Christians – Nimrud Khuder Moshi, Glawiz Nissan and Hanaa Issaq – were murdered in Dora, a Christian neighbourhood of Baghdad, on April 2. The previous day, Sabah Aziz Suliman, 60, was killed in Kirkuk, in the north of the country.

All four were ethnic Assyrian Christians in their 50s or 60s and all were murdered in their homes. April 1 is the Assyrian New Year and a time of festivities and family gatherings.

The people responsible for these latest murders have not yet been identified but Islamist militants and other armed groups have specifically targeted Christians in the instability that followed the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Archbishop Louis Sako, Chaldean archbishop of Kirkuk, says that 750 Christians have been murdered in Iraq in the past five years. As many as 100,000 Christians are said to have left Iraq for countries such as Syria, Jordan and Turkey.

(Sources: Ankawa.com, International Christian Concern, Release International)

• Pray for the families of all four Christians murdered earlier this month.
• Pray for courage, boldness, unity and peace for Iraq's beleaguered church.
 

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