Mosul/Aleteia (Aleteia.org/ar) – Some Mosul churches have been transformed into detention centers by ISIS jihadists, who have been laying down the law in northern Iraqi cities since the 9th of last November.
According to some sources, who recently commented on the website, www.ankawa.com, some of those who have been arrested were blindfolded and handcuffed. Furthermore, they were transported to an old Chaldean church; which happens to be the Church of the Immaculate Conception, in the eastern part of the city.
Fides News learned from local sources that the St. George Monastery was converted into a detention center for females. There are some who speculate that the women are being sexually abused in the same monastery.
In Mosul, on Monday the 24th of November, armed Jihadists from ISIS used explosives to cause severe damage to the Sacred Heart of the Chaldean Sisters Monastery, which was being occupied by the Jihadists who used it as living quarters and logistical support base. (See Fides News 11/24/2014.)
Rebwar Audish Basa, procurator of the Congregation of St. Anthony of the Chaldeans indicated to Fides News that, “ISIS Jihadists occupy the churches, some of which are very old. One of the fears that haunt us is that any military attack to liberate Mosul may inevitably lead to considering the churches as targets because they have become logistical bases for the Jihadists. Of course, if the older churches are destroyed we would not be able to repair the damages, nor could our losses be compensated.”
This article was originally published in Aleteia’s Arabic edition. Translated by Donald Puhlman.
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