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IRAQ: Two priests killed in attack on Baghdad Church
By John Newton
Our Lady of Salvation Syrian Catholic Cathedral in Baghdad, Iraq, after it was attacked by terrorists
Two priests are among 52 people who were killed during an attack on a Church in central Baghdad, Iraq.
According to Church sources in Iraq, the two young priests died when terrorists attacked Our Lady of Salvation Syrian Catholic Cathedral during Mass yesterday evening (Sunday, 31st October).
The priests, who were leading the service, were taken hostage along with many of the parishioners.
Father Wasim Sabieh and Father Thaier Saad Abdal were killed during the attack. A third priest, Fr Raphael Qatin, was wounded and rushed to hospital in a critical condition with a bullet wound to his head.
Iraq's deputy interior minister, Major General Hussein Ali Kamal, said 52 people were killed and 67 wounded in the attack, including seven members of the Iraqi security forces.
The church was attacked by nine armed men who had suicide bombs attached to their belts.
Hostages were freed after Iraqi security forces stormed the church. The security forces killed eight of the terrorists during the operation to free the church, and a ninth died when he activated a suicide bomb.
The terrorists claimed to belong to Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni militant group closely allied with Al-Qaeda. They were demanding the release of Al-Qaeda members being held in Iraq and Egypt.
A statement on the group’s website also demanded the release of Muslim girls from Christian backgrounds who they claimed were being held prisoner in Egyptian Coptic monasteries.
The statement gave 48 hours to release the girls before they blew up the church.
This video contains images that some viewers may find distressing
Neville Kyrke-Smith, UK Director of Aid to the Church in Need, expressed the charity’s concern for suffering Christians in the country.
He said: “Our heart goes out to the persecuted Christians in Iraq following this latest tragedy which has resulted in such a terrible loss of life.
“We are committed to praying for, and to providing aid to, the Church in need in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.
“The Iraqi Christian communities have almost been destroyed in recent years. We are committed to standing by our brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Aid to the Church in Need has prioritised help for the Middle East since Pope Benedict XVI asked the charity to do more to sustain Christianity in the region – saying “Churches in the Middle East are threatened in their very existence.”
As well as helping Christian refugees in the north of Iraq and Syria, the charity is providing aid for those fleeing to Turkey and Jordan.
Last year Aid to the Church in Need provided more than £450,000 in aid for persecuted Christians in Iraq.