Christians given ultimatum by Islamic State fighters
- 10 years ago
Shi'ite militants fire machine guns in the Iraqi city of Tikrit Sunday.
They're launching an assault to take back the city currently held by Islamic State fighters.
So far, Baghdad has struggled to recapture cities seized by Sunni insurgents last month -- including the city of Mosul.
Hundreds of Christians who were forced to flee there attend church services Sunday in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region.
They had been given an ultimatum Thursday by the Islamic State:
Convert to Islam, pay a religious tax, or face the sword.
They chose to leave.
This was head of the Islamic Supreme Council on Iraqi TV Sunday:
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF ISLAMIC SUPREME COUNCIL, AMMAR AL-HAKIM, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER SHOTS OF AUDIENCE)
"The Christians at Nineveh plain and other places are used to living there for hundreds and thousands of years. They are the native people, now the armed gangs are targeting them and asking t
They're launching an assault to take back the city currently held by Islamic State fighters.
So far, Baghdad has struggled to recapture cities seized by Sunni insurgents last month -- including the city of Mosul.
Hundreds of Christians who were forced to flee there attend church services Sunday in Arbil, the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region.
They had been given an ultimatum Thursday by the Islamic State:
Convert to Islam, pay a religious tax, or face the sword.
They chose to leave.
This was head of the Islamic Supreme Council on Iraqi TV Sunday:
(SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HEAD OF ISLAMIC SUPREME COUNCIL, AMMAR AL-HAKIM, SAYING: (SOUNDBITE CONTINUES OVER SHOTS OF AUDIENCE)
"The Christians at Nineveh plain and other places are used to living there for hundreds and thousands of years. They are the native people, now the armed gangs are targeting them and asking t