Baghdad (AINA) -- An unidentified Islamic group has been threatening the Chrisitan Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs) in the Dora district of Baghdad, a traditionally Assyrian area. The Islamic group issued an ultimatum yesterday to Assyrian families, telling them to leave Christianity and convert to Islam within 24 hours or they would all be killed. The Islamic group also issued a fatwa (a religious edict) to confiscate the property of all Christians, to force Assyrian women to veil themselves, to forbid genuflection (making the sign of the Cross) and the wearing of the Cross.
The persecution of the Assyrians in the Dora district has been relentless:
- March 18, 2007: Muslims Force Assyrians in Dora to pay a 'Protection Tax'
November 8, 2004: Two bombs exploded outside two churches in southern Baghdad quarters of Dora. Three people were dead and around 40 to 50 injured.
November 2, 2004 An unidentified group surprised and fired upon an Assyrian family in Dora, Meekanik quarters, south of Baghdad. 'Alaa' Andrawis (b. 1965), his wife Evelyn Malkizdaq, and their 10-years old son were shot at while in their car.
October 21, 2004 Layla Elias Kakka Essa (aged 30s), a translator in the Assyrian quarters of Dora, was shot and killed.
October 16, 2004 The St. Joseph church in Dora is hit with a bomb, along with four other churches in Baghdad
June 11, 2004: Four masked men entered the Assyrian Christian district of Dora in a civilian sedan and opened fire on the Assyrians, killing four and wounding several others.
March 22, 2004: An Assyrian Elderly couple, Ameejon Barama and his wife Jewded, were brutally murdered in their own home in Dora. The husband's throat was slashed and the wife was struck repeatedly to the head.
October 21, 2006: Ayad Tariq, a 14 year old Assyrian boy, is decapitated at his place of work
October 12, 2006: Paul Alexander, an Assyrian priest, is decapitated in north Iraq
October 9, 2006: a 14 year Assyrian old boy is crucified in his neighborhood in North Iraq
September 25, 2006: Two Assyrian churches attacked in North Iraq in response to Pope's speech
September 24, 2006: St. Mary's Cathedral in Baghdad, home of the Patriarch, is bombed
January 29, 2006: Four Assyrian churches bombed in Baghdad
November 29, 2005: Joseph Nabil Ishmael and George Brikha Youkhana are shot and killed in North Iraq
September 23, 2005: 4 Assyrians Killed in Assassination Attempt on Former Iraq Assyrian Minister
September 13, 2005: Anita Tyadors is brutally murdered by muslim extremists in North Iraq
August 27, 2005: Nabil Akram Amona murdered By Kurdish militia in North Iraq
March 24, 2005: Zahra Ashour (female student) is beaten to death by Mehdi army personnel in Basra
December 21, 2004: Three Assyrian churches bombed in North Iraq
