Iraqi Christians flee Mosul after threats by extremists

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Baghdad, July 19 (IANS) Hundreds of Christian families have fled their homes in Iraq's militant-held Mosul fearing an ultimatum to accept extremist militants' options, a provincial security source and witnesses said Saturday. All of the Christian families who lived in Mosul, 400 km **rth of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, have left the city by Saturday **on - a deadline declared by the Islamic State (IS) militant group Wednesday for the Christians to convert to Islam, leave the city, pay tax or die, Xinhua reported citing a security source as saying. The Christian mi**rity, who lived for centuries in Mosul and several nearby towns and villages, have fled either abroad or to the semi-auto**mous region of Kurdistan due to the chaos and daily violence over the past many years. "The latest exodus of the remaining about 375 families of the mi**rity in the city has increased since Wednesday when the IS militants started to put signs on the houses of Christian families marking "properties of the Islamic State", the source said.

أكثر... (https://en-maktoob.news.yahoo.com/iraqi-christians-flee-mosul-threats-extremists-155625571.html)