ICC Note: When the ISIS jihadists cleansed Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, of its Christian population they also took control of the churches. Many of these have been destroyed. Video from inside Mosul published by the Rudaw news group shows the destruction and graffiti stating that “these places are destroyed under ISIS order.”
10/18/2014 Iraq (Rudaw) – Rudaw has obtained an exclusive video, shot in recent days, showing the ruins of a church in Mosul destroyed by Islamic State (ISIS) militants.
(Click IMAGE above or here to view on YouTube)
“Until this very moment, the destroyed churches have remained untouched since Daash blew them up,” says the person who filmed the site, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
ISIS leveled the Church of the Virgin Mary in late July, a month and a half after they topple Mosul and pushed on to control much of northern and central Iraq.
The Iraqi Ministry of Human Rights announced days later that ISIS had loaded the church with improvised explosive devices and successfully detonated the church.
Since its destruction “no one is allowed to get close to it,” the reporter added, but he was able to film the site because “no people can be seen around the churches and the city in general.”
Graffiti has been written on the walls, stating that “these places are destroyed under ISIS order,” among other jihadi slogans and directives. The Assyrian International News Agency reports that all 45 Christian churches or institutions in Mosul are now destroyed or occupied by the group.
Days before blowing up the church, ISIS decreed strict new laws for the Christian population, marking the homes of Christians with red spray paint. Residents were given the option to convert to Islam, pay the ‘jizya’ – a historic tax levied on non-Muslim populations since the first years of the religion—go in to exile, or face execution.
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