Release International

Iraqi Christians have appealed for UN protection following the militia attack on a church in Baghdad on Sunday in which up to 60 people died.

Gunmen stormed the Church of Our Lady of Salvation in the affluent Karada district, taking the entire congregation hostage and demanding the release of a number of detained militia men.

When security forces surrounded and stormed the church four hours later, a huge gun battle ensued, killing militia men, security guards and more than 40 members of the church, including two of its leaders.

An unnamed Iraqi official quoted by Associated Press news agency reported that the gunmen had started killing their hostages as security forces entered the building. Scores of people were wounded in the attack.

Prime Minister Nouri Maliki condemned the siege on Sunday evening, describing it as an attempt to drive more Christians out of the country. Extremists with links to al-Qaeda have since claimed responsibility for the attack.
During a radio broadcast yesterday, Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa of Mosul called on the UN to protect Iraq's beleaguered Christian community.
Release patron Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, who has Christian contacts in Iraq, said that Christians had anticipated an attack, but the scale of Sunday's tragedy had caught them off guard. He told the PM programme on Radio 4 that he feared that Christians in Iraq were 'sitting targets'. 'They are the one community that is not really armed in any way so its security must be a concern, of course, for the Iraqi Government and, I think, also for the international community,' he said.

(Sources: Associated Press, BBC, Middle East Concern, UCANews)

• Continue to pray for survivors of the attack on the Baghdad church and for all those bereaved through this tragedy. Pray that they will have a revelation of the perfect love of our Almighty God, which drives out all fear.
• Pray that the Iraqi authorities and international community will do more to protect Iraq's Christian community. Ask God to build up His church in Iraq.

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