ISIS’ brutality was swift and symbolic. On June 20, 2014, they destroyed the statue of “Our Lady of Tigris” atop the Al-Tahera Church as part of a campaign to “cleanse the place of polytheist features.” This act mirrored the destruction of other statues that had long been woven into the city’s character.
The terror escalated further on June 28, 2014, with the abduction of two religious sisters, Sister Atur and Sister Maskanta from the Daughters of Mary Chaldean Congregation, along with three children from the orphanage they ran. Thankfully, they were released unharmed on July 17. These events coincided with the declaration of the so-called “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria” and the establishment of the “Islamic Caliphate” under Caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
The brutality of ISIS knew no bounds. After accusing Christian clergy of refusing a meeting, the group published a chilling document titled “Destiny” on July 18, 2014. Distributed by ISIS members, it was intended to be read aloud in mosques after Friday prayers.
This document presented an impossible choice for Mosul’s Christians: leave within 24 hours or face forced conversion to Islam, a hefty tax for non-Muslims (jizya), or death. Abdul Ahad, a witness to these horrific events, recounted the desperate exodus that followed.
“ISIS forbade us from taking anything,” Abdul Ahad said in an interview with ACI Mena. “Furniture, identification papers, money, gold — everything was confiscated. Many were forced to abandon their cars and walk, sometimes barefoot, toward Duhok and Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan or the Nineveh Valley before it too fell to ISIS.”
Credit: Source link
