Libyan Officials Uncover Mass Grave of Christians Killed by ISIS

The Islamic State and other extremist groups still maintain strongholds in parts of Libya are still active in Libya and retain control of parts of the country. Christian global persecution watchdog Open Doors ranks Libya as the seventh most dangerous country for Christians.

By Carly Hoilman
Faithwire

Last month Libyan officials uncovered dozens of bodies from a mass grave used by the Islamic State, Catholic News Agency reported. The bodies of 34 Ethiopian Christians killed by the terrorist group in 2015 will soon be sent back to Ethiopia, where they will be laid to rest with the dignity they deserve.

According to Reuters, an ISIS propaganda video posted to social media in April 2015 appeared to show militants beheading Ethiopian Christians, who were wearing orange jumpsuits, on a beach.

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The group were in Libya seeking employment as migrant workers, International Christian Concern reported.

The killings occurred just months after the terrorists beheaded a group of Coptic Christians in 2015. A mass grave from that slaughter was discovered in October 2017.

The Islamic State and other extremist groups still maintain strongholds in parts of Libya are still active in Libya and retain control of parts of the country. Christian global persecution watchdog Open Doors ranks Libya as the seventh most dangerous country for Christians.

On Christmas Day, at least three people were killed and 21 injured when a suicide bomber detonated near the capital Tripoli. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, during which a senior Libyan diplomat was killed, according to the Daily Mail.

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'With Our Souls, Our Blood, We Will Defend the Cross': Coptic Christians Cry Out at Funerals

"We would like to tell them (the attackers) that we still love them despite what happened."

Coptic Christians mourn the death of seven believers during
a funeral in Egypt on November 3, 2018.

By Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post

The Coptic Christian community in Egypt is crying out in grief and anger following the funerals of seven believers who were killed by Islamic militants near a monastery in Minya.

The attack on Friday, which left at least another 19 people injured, prompted a swift response from Egyptian police, who say that they killed 19 militants in a shoot-out into the desert area west of Minya province.

AFP reported that the first victim, an Anglican, was buried on Friday, while the other six Coptic Christians were carried out in white coffins on Saturday by hundreds of mourners. The crowds reportedly shouted "with our souls, with our blood, we will defend the cross!"

Bishop Makarios of Minya said following the funerals that "we will not forget the promises of officials, including the president of the republic, that the criminals will be punished."

The Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for Friday's massacre, which comes a year after 28 believers were killed travelling to the same monastery in May 2017.

Egypt's interior ministry said that police pursued the militants and discovered a tent where they had been hiding. Officers found guns, riffles, and IS propaganda.

Copts, who make up only around 10 percent of the local population, have called for better protection as radical Islamic danger remains high in Egypt.

"What do these terrorists want? Do they want us to hate Muslims?" asked one mourner, identified only as Michael, who lost a neighbor on Friday, when the militants attacked two buses near the Minya monastery.

During Saturday's funerals, mourners remembered those they lost.

"He was the best child ... I'll never see him again," said an elderly woman, who wasn't named.

Rad Noseer Mitri, priest of Mar Girgis Church, suggested that forgiveness is possible even in such a situation.

"We would like to tell them (the attackers) that we still love them despite what happened. We have a question though — why are you doing this to us? We do not commit malice towards anyone," Mitri said, according to Reuters.

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Open Doors Rebuilds Nearly 700 Christian Homes Destroyed by ISIS in Nineveh Plains

By Stoyan Zaimov
Christian Post

Nearly 700 Christian homes have been rebuilt by Open Doors and its partners in the Nineveh Plains of Iraq following years of genocide and destruction committed by the Islamic State.

Over three-and-a-half years ago, IS jihadis forced Christians and other religious minorities in the region to choose either to convert to Islam, pay a hefty tax to keep their faith, or be killed. In the midst of these life-threatening circumstances, hundreds of thousands of believers decided to flee their homes and seek refuge in neighboring countries or in the Kurdish north.

But now that the city of Mosul and surrounding Nineveh Plains have been liberated for months, members of the Christian community are slowly rebuilding their homes after they were trashed and desecrated by the brutal terrorist group.

Although resettling Christians haven't received much aid to date from foreign governments, some have benefited from the help of international humanitarian groups in restoring their once beloved homes.

Open Doors, a Christian ministry that operates in over 60 countries worldwide, recently announced that at least 678 homes have been restored in the Nineveh Plains because of their and their partners' efforts.

Open Doors and its local partners have helped to rebuild 286 houses in Qaraqosh, a town that was once the biggest Christian town in Iraq.

"But as the Lord told His people through the prophet Isaiah, God is doing a 'new thing' in Qaraqosh, Iraq's largest Christian city," an Open Doors report states. 

"Shops and restaurants are open, children go to school, busloads full of students head to Mosul daily for their studies at Mosul University, and increasing numbers of Christians are returning to the Assyrian city more commonly known as Baghdeda."

Additionally, Open Doors and its partners have helped to support the restoration of a total of 392 houses throughout the rest of the Nineveh Plains.

Open Doors says the efforts have resulted in a "new hope for almost 700 families." The progress being made in Northern Iraq spans beyond what Open Doors has been able to support.

Father George, a Christian leader in Qaraqosh, told Open Doors that as many as 1,054 of 2,658 houses on their list to be repaired were restored by the end of 2017. Other humanitarian groups, such as Knights of Columbus and Aid to the Church in Need, as well as smaller organizations, have been instrumental in providing support to Christians.

Open Doors report continues here

Two Russians Who Refused to Reject Jesus on Camera 'Almost Certainly' Killed by ISIS

By Stoyan Zaimov 
Christian Post

Two Russian mercenaries and Orthodox Christians captured by the Islamic State terror group in Syria have most likely been killed after they refused to reject their faith and embrace Islam on camera.

Senior Russian MP Viktor Vodolatsky said it is unlikely that Roman Zabolotny, 39, and Grigory Tsurkanu, 38, survived. 

"It is very sad but 99 percent Roman Zabolotny is not alive, nor is the second prisoner," Vodolatsky said.

While the fate of the two men is not yet confirmed, the Russian Orthodox Church has reportedly already declared them martyrs for their faith in a short video posted on YouTube last week.

MailOnline reported on Monday that the two Christians were captured earlier this month at the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, one of the last remaining IS strongholds in Syria.

The men, who appear to have been wounded, have their limbs tied in the short IS video.

Vodolatsky explained that the prisoners were given a statement which they had to read before a camera.

"In this text they would reject their Orthodox religion, reject their motherland, become Muslim and join ISIS," the politician shared.

"They stayed loyal to the Orthodox faith and their motherland until the very end, and this is what they were killed by those gangsters for."

Anatoly Kotlyarov, an MP in Zabolotny's home city of Rostov-on-Don, further said that it does appear that the Christians have been executed.

Kotlyarov told Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper that his "trustworthy" source "has never been mistaken in four years of our cooperation, especially when informing about the dead."

Zabolotny is believed to have traveled to Syria to help protect Christians from IS radicals, MailOnline noted. He previously served as a paratrooper in the intelligence section of Russia's air assault forces.

Ruslan Leviev, founder of Conflict Intelligence, an independent investigation group, said that the pair were likely fighters for the Wagner private army.

"We think it is a strategy of the Defense Ministry of Russia: sending mercenaries to the hottest places, we avoid losses among official soldiers and keep the image of a successful combat operation," Leviev suggested.

IS militants have captured and executed Christian prisoners on a number of occasions. The remains of 21 Copts beheaded by IS in 2015 were finally discovered last week in Libya, to the relief of the families.

Christian Post continues

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ISIS Warns of New Attacks on Egypt's Christians, Tells Muslims to Stay Away

Relatives mourn victims of the Palm Sunday bombings
during a funeral at the Monastery of Saint Mina in Egypt

By Anugrah Kumar

Christian Post

Terror group Islamic State's local leader in Egypt has issued a warning to Muslims, asking them to stay away from Christian gatherings and suggesting that it would launch new attacks on "legitimate targets."

"We are warning you to stay away from Christian gatherings, as well as the gatherings of the army and the police, and the areas that have political government facilities," the anonymous leader said in an interview with Al Naba, a weekly newspaper published on Telegram by Islamic State, according to Reuters.

The warning comes weeks after the Palm Sunday bombings at churches in Alexandria and Tanta, which killed 45 Christians, and days after the visit of Pope Francis to the country.

Islamic State, known as IS, ISIS, ISIL or Daesh, claimed responsibility for the Palm Sunday attacks.

IS also signaled while claiming responsibility that more attacks were coming: "The Crusaders and their tails from the apostates must be aware that the bill between us and them is very large and they will be paying it like a river of blood from their sons, if God willing."

Sinai Province, the name of the local affiliate of IS in Egypt, is seeking to impose a hardline interpretation of Islam in the country, according to the newswire. The group is said to have established its own military force in North Sinai, cracking down on things it sees as vices, such as smoking, men shaving their beards, or women exposing their faces.

Christian Post report continues

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Iraqi Priests Celebrate Mass In Destroyed Church For First Time Since ISIS

Priests hold the first mass at the Mart Shmoni Church since it 

was recaptured from Islamic State.  Reuters   

By Carey Lodge
Christian Today

After more than two years of ISIS control, priests today held mass at the Mart Shmoni Church in Bashiqa, east of Mosul, for the first time since it was liberated.

Photographs showed priests inspecting the church, which had been ransacked by militants. Icons could be seen hanging off the walls, chairs broken and trash littered the floor.

Bashiqa was retaken from ISIS as part of the offensive to capture Mosul – ISIS' last stronghold in Iraq – that began on October 17.

Mosul and its surrounding towns and villages, many of which were occupied primarily by Christians, were overrun by ISIS in 2014.

Though many of these towns have now been liberated, it is still considered too dangerous for civilians to return. However, church leaders have begun to return to their churches.

On 30 October, dozens of Iraqi Christians celebrated mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh, which was once home to Iraq's largest Christian population.

 "Today Qaraqosh is free of Daesh (Islamic State)," Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul Butrus Moshe – who was born in the town – told worshippers.

Story of recaptured Catholic Church continues 

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Battle For Mosul Begins - But Will There Be Any Christians Left?

Peshmerga forces advance in the east of Mosul  Reuters

By Harry Farley
Christian Today

The battle for Mosul began early on Monday morning as coalition forces sought to recapture ISIS' last major stronghold in Iraq.

Government troops backed by the US and others launched an air and ground offensive in the biggest operation in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. 

The iconic northern city of Mosul was home to thousands of Iraqi Christians before the ISIS invasion. There are thought to be few, if any, remaining.

The United States predicted Islamic State would suffer "a lasting defeat" as Iraqi forces mounted their operation. Some 30,000 Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish Peshmerga militia and Sunni tribal fighters were expected to take part in the offensive to drive up to 8,000 Islamic State militants from Mosul, a city of 1.5 million people.

"I announce today the start of the heroic operations to free you from the terror and the oppression of Daesh," Prime Minister Haider Abadi said in a speech on state TV.

"We will meet soon on the ground of Mosul to celebrate liberation and your salvation," he said.

In a statement the commander of the coalition, US Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, said: "This operation to regain control of Iraq's second-largest city will likely continue for weeks, possibly longer."

US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said it was a "decisive moment" in the effort to defeat ISIS.

Article continues at christiantoday.com