Islamic Extremists Target Women

(AsiaNews) – Islamic fundamentalist groups in the Iraqi city of Mosul have threatened violence against Christians, and particularly Christian women, the AsiaNews service reports. A flyer circulating in Mosul at the beginning of Ramadan threatened “death to all Iraqi women who did not cover their heads,” and two young women had acid sprayed in their faces in a city marketplace. A similar flyer suggested that Christians would “suffer violence and persecution in their homes and their churches.” The campaign of intimidation is having its effect; AsiaNews reports that some Christian students have stopped attending university classes, and the Christian community in Mosul– about 3 percent of the city’s population– is braced for further attacks.