Assyrian Church attacks 31/10/10 - 'Worse than a horror film'

Here is a CNN coverage of the attacks which led to the death of over 60 people including two priests who were shot in the face and died instantly and leaving several others injured in Baghdad, Iraq. The death toll is still rising as we speak.

Official Report - 1/11/10
source: aina.org

At least 37 people have been killed after Iraqi security forces stormed a Catholic church in central Baghdad to free dozens of hostages being held by gunmen there, security sources say.

Twenty-five hostages were among the dead, along with se...ven members of the Iraqi security forces and at least five of the attackers, they told the BBC.

About 100 people had been inside Our Lady of Salvation for an evening Mass.

The gunmen had reportedly demanded the release of jailed al-Qaeda militants.

The local TV station, al-Baghdadiya, said it had received a phone call from someone claiming to be one of the attackers, who said they were from the Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni militant umbrella group to which al-Qaeda in Iraq belongs.

Reports said the attackers were not Iraqis, but foreign Arabs.

The raid came two days after a suicide attack on a cafe in Diyala province left 21 people dead.

'Priest killed'

Residents of Baghdad's Karada district, where the attack took place, first heard a loud explosion at about 1700 (1400 GMT), followed by gunfire.

Police said a group of armed men began by attacking the Iraq Stock Exchange building, and then took over the Catholic church just across the road, clashing with guards and killing some of them.

Security forces later surrounded the church and sealed off the area, with helicopters hovering overhead. Then they stormed the building.

Witnesses nearby said they then heard two explosions from inside the church and more shooting.

One eyewitness, who was inside the church, was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that the gunmen "came into the prayer hall and immediately killed the priest".

The witness, who declined to give his name, said the people in the church had huddled into the main prayer hall when the gunbattles began with the security forces.

The gunmen reportedly threw grenades and blew their suicide vests.

There were no negotiations with the gunmen before the security forces stormed the church, reports suggest.

Witnesses also say they saw US troops on the ground and US military helicopters hovering above the scene, but the extent of their involvement is not yet clear.

"The operation has finished and we released all the hostages," said the commander of police in south-eastern Baghdad, Brig-Gen Ali Ibrahim.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says there are different figures from different sources for the number of hostages and attackers involved, and how many of each were killed or captured.

Earlier reports said that two security guards at the stock exchange had been killed before the attackers occupied the church.

Many churches have been bombed in recent years - including Our Lady of Salvation in August 2004 - and priests kidnapped and killed, but there has never been a prolonged hostage situation like this before, our correspondent says.

There are about 1.5 million Christians from ancient denominations in Iraq.

Iraqi Christians have been leaving the country in droves since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Assyrian
• Syriac
• Syrian
• Catholic
• Church
• Islam
• Iraq
• Iraqi
• Christian
• Christians
• Muslim
• Terrorist
• Terrorists

[MatthewandMadison]

Sick freaks.

[tdubya97]

@WorldWarChaos So i guess the next time a Christian commits an atrocity, that will mean all christians are evil? I call bullshit. Jesus, there are so many conservative dogs like you clogging the internet and media with hate and irrationality.

[WorldWarChaos]

wheres the fucking united nations, keep attacking churches you low life fucking dogs your just bringing more hate against islam. and all these muslims saying there not all the same, bullshit your all the same if anything one is worst than the other. there's only evil in islam and they wont stop until the whole world is converted to islam.

[lean77back]

@osamawahabi amen a milllion times baby and may god be with you to guide you and protect you but why would you have a name like osamawahabi i dont understand

[OpenUpYourHearts]

To all my brothers and sisters please continue to pray for these devils called Muslims. I feel sorry for them because there souls are going to burn in he'll forever but remember Jesus doesn't want that so continue to pray for them all.amen

[resistislam2011]

@L0lMerked wow this is sad and sadly its not talked to much by our media here in the united states, ive seen videos of the egypt coptics being pretty much kicked out their church by bulldozers and gunfire, i dont think i even heard anything about that on the news stations here, i knew this kind of thing went on and im aware that christians are constantly attacked sad but our news really doesnt touch on it much i wish they did but they hush it up because of political correctness and fear

[sadik66]

@mohamadben

change your name then!!!! you motherfucker, look first to the history of christian countries!!!!

[L0lMerked]

@mohamadben Now you know the evils of islam. I'm an Assryrian Chaldean and these are my brothers and sisters dying. May god bless their souls. You made the right choice.

[TanyaMK83]

there should be a law to kill all fucking Muslims on sight- these fuckers get away with so much! but countries around the world are starting to finally understand that and standing up against them! ALL of them are fucking sick motherfuckers with sick beliefs!

[DRAGANA0093]

This honestly made me cry!

RIP to all the ones who are in heaven now!

This should have never happened!!