NINEVEH PLAINS

BAGHDAD – Iraqi Member of Parliament Sherwan al-Dobardani (KDP) stated to Shafaq News Agency that great pressure is being put on regional security forces to allow pilgrims from commemorating Imam Musa al-Kadhim to enter the areas of Tal Afar and Nineveh Plains in northern Iraq. Al-Dobardani called for preventing the…

BARTELLA, Iraq – On Monday, a meeting between clergy and members of the Crisis Cell was held on Monday morning in the Syriac town of Bartella in Nineveh Plains region of northern Iraq to discuss the latest developments of the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The meeting was attended by Father Yacoub…

By Benjamin Harbaugh International Christian Concern – Iraq is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. Before the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 there were around 1.5 million Christians in the country. The number has dropped precipitously to only 250,000 today.[1] While war and conflict have…

Telsqopa / ܬܠܐ ܙܩܝܦܐ‎  – In the fight against the spread of the coronavirus, a crisis team of the Syriac-Chaldean town of Telsqopa today started with the sanitization of shops, community centers and streets in the town. The sanitization campaign is jointly undertaken by the municipal health department, the Chaldean…

By Marco Gombacci @theEUpost – “Iraq is in an incredibly difficult situation. Minorities especially, were since 2014 abandoned by the central government of Baghdad and also felt abandoned by the Kurdish authorities. They became the victims of a genocide by ISIS,” EU Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion and belief Jan…

WASHINGTON – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) yesterday repeated its appeal and recommendations to the U.S. government to empower Iraqi religious and ethnic minorities in attaining self-governance and representational security in the Nineveh Plains region of norther Iraq. In an interview with non-profit organization In Defence…

NINEVEH PLAINS, Iraq – Heavy rains in northern Iraq on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning led to massive flooding in the Nineveh Plains, especially the towns of Baghdeda and Tesqopa. According to the Iraq’s National Meteorology Department, the rainfall on both towns was over 11.2 cm. Volunteers from the town…

NINEVEH PLAINS, Iraq (International Christian Concern) – The Nineveh Plains Protection Unit (NPU), an Iraqi Christian militia, is implementing the decision to install a curfew and travel restrictions for people living in the al-Hamdaniya district. The lockdown is meant to address rising concern regarding the coronavirus. Mosul has conducted some…

QAMISHLI, Syria / MOSUL, Iraq / VATICAN – The Syriac Orthodox Church in Qamishli has begun implementing several decisions on the establishment of prayers and religious services in the church, to prevent the spread of novel coronavirus COVID-19. Father Saliba Abdullah, priest of the Virgin Mary Church in Qamishli, said…

This article was originally published by GetReligion on 17 March 2020. The original article can be found here. By Julia Duin ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom that does investigative journalism, isn’t known for religion coverage. Why, I have no idea, as the field is indeed rich. But earlier this month, it…