Christian Iraq/Syrians Being Murdered and run out from homes - Is it time for another crusade?

A displaced Iraqi man from the Yazidi community carries his daughter as they cross the Iraqi-Syrian border at the Fishkhabur crossing, in northern Iraq

Ten years after the ISIS genocide devastated Christian communities in Iraq's Nineveh region, a new threat has emerged. Rayan Al-Kildani, a U.S.-sanctioned militia leader, and his Babylon Brigade are seizing control, displacing Christian officials, and promoting corruption. Local leaders resisting his influence are calling for fair representation and protection for their communities. In the coming weeks, the Iraqi Federal Court will rule on the illegal removal of the Nineveh Provincial Council on July 2, 2024, and the replacement of 15 mayors and directors. If upheld, this action would eliminate the last independent Christian mayors outside the Kurdistan Region, devastating historic Syriac, Assyrian, and Chaldean Christian cities like Bartella, Qaraqosh, and Tel Kef, as well as the Yazidi homeland of Sinjar.

Before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, Iraq was home to 1.5 million Christians. However, U.S. policies inadvertently fueled sectarianism, severely impacting religious and ethnic minorities. By the time ISIS emerged, only 700,000 Christians remained. Under ISIS rule, Christians faced forced displacement, persecution, looting, sexual violence, slavery, forced conversions, and the destruction of their cultural heritage. Today, estimates suggest only 150,000 to 250,000 Christians remain in Iraq.

The Struggle for Qaraqosh

Qaraqosh (Bakhdida), Iraq’s largest Christian city in the Al-Hamdaniya District, fell to ISIS on August 6, 2014. Aware of the atrocities in Sinjar and Mosul, most of its 60,000 residents fled to Erbil in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). When Qaraqosh was liberated on October 19, 2016, it had suffered $135 million in damages, with churches and homes destroyed. By then, 40% of its Christian residents had either emigrated abroad or chosen to remain in the KRI.

On July 18, 2019, the United States sanctioned Rayan Al-Kildani, leader of the 50th Brigade militia, for human rights abuses including intimidation, extortion, and harassment of women. The U.S. accused the militia—now known as the Babylon Brigade or Kataib Babiliyoun (KB)—of systemic looting and illegally seizing land, calling it the primary obstacle to the return of displaced persons to the Nineveh Plains. After the area’s liberation, Iranian-aligned militias began confiscating lands, preventing many residents from returning home.

Though the Babylon Brigade operates under Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and is supported by Iran’s Quds Force, Kildani markets it as a Christian group, branding himself “Rayan the Chaldean.” However, most of its members are Shia from southern Iraq, relocated to the Nineveh Plains to bolster Kildani’s political power through his Babylon Movement.

A Power Vacuum and Broken Promises

After ISIS’s defeat, Iranian-aligned militias filled the power vacuum in the Nineveh Plains, particularly in disputed territories claimed by both the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government. Neither authority adequately invested in governance or security. Article 140 of the 2005 Iraqi Constitution outlined a process to resolve these territorial disputes by 2007, but its neglect has disproportionately harmed religious minorities.

Despite allegations of voter bribery and intimidation, Kildani’s Iran-backed Babylon Movement secured four of the five parliamentary seats reserved for Christians in the 2021 Iraqi election, exploiting election law loopholes with support from Iranian-backed Shia groups rather than representing Christian voices. In the 2023 provincial elections, Kildani repeated this success, winning four Christian-reserved seats in Basra, Baghdad, Kirkuk, and Nineveh. After losing the Basra seat to a church-backed candidate, he filed a legal challenge alleging Baath Party ties, disqualifying the winner and installing his own candidate.

In July 2023, Kildani pressured Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid to revoke a decree recognizing Cardinal Louis Sako as Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church—Iraq’s largest Christian denomination (67%), in communion with the Roman Catholic Church. This forced Cardinal Sako to relocate his headquarters from Baghdad to Erbil. Kildani even staged a fake meeting with the Pope to gain legitimacy. I met Cardinal Sako in Erbil shortly after his flight, where he expressed deep fears for the church’s future in Iraq. In April 2024, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani reinstated the decree, allowing Cardinal Sako to return to Baghdad.

Resistance to Kildani

Qaraqosh’s Christian residents and leaders have resisted Kildani’s political takeover, though they face constant harassment at militia checkpoints, particularly women. On March 11, 2023, Kildani’s brother Osama, now commanding the Babylon Brigade, attempted to seize the base of the Christian Nineveh Plains Protection Units (NPU) in Qaraqosh, a 500-strong force formed for community defense. Archbishop Younan Hanno, alongside top Christian leaders and residents, marched to expel the militia convoy. On August 5, the Council of Qaraqosh Archbishops and five Syriac, Assyrian, and Chaldean political parties protested land theft, corrupt security forces, unfair elections, demographic changes, and attempts to replace their leaders with Kildani loyalists.

On September 26, 2023, a tragic fire at a wedding reception in Qaraqosh killed 134 people and injured over 250, devastating the tight-knit Syriac Catholic community. Weeks later, I visited the site and met grieving families, many of whom had lost teenagers, siblings, cousins, or parents. Syriac Catholic Priest Father Adris Hanna noted that exhaustion and thoughts of emigration now dominate the community, which has faced repeated persecution and displacement due to their faith and ethnicity.

Amid rumors that the wedding hall owner was linked to Kildani and angered by his efforts to oust Christian officials, residents barred Kildani and his Babylon-affiliated MP, Duraid Jamil Eshoo, from a mourning ceremony. Kildani threatened to attack a church if denied entry, while Duraid warned, “If 100 died now, we’ll make them 200 next time, and we’ll break the bishop’s crosier on his head,” referring to Archbishop Hanno’s staff. These threats were recorded and reported to authorities.

The Power Grab

On July 2, 2024, Kildani persuaded or coerced a majority of the Nineveh Provincial Council to remove 15 officials in Qaraqosh, Bartella, Tel Kef, and Sinjar. Controlling 16 of the council’s 29 seats through his pro-Iran Babylon Movement and the Nineveh Future Alliance, Kildani has consolidated power in this majority-Arab region. The Opposition Alliance, with 13 seats, suspended its council membership, demanded the council president’s removal, and filed a federal court complaint. Five Christian political parties united in condemning the decision as unconstitutional, warning of severe societal consequences. The changes are paused pending the court’s ruling.

Kildani also led an alliance that ousted the Kirkuk Provincial Council’s governor and speaker on August 10, 2024, sparking protests and media attention. He collaborates with Iranian-backed figures like Nouri al-Maliki, Falih al-Fayyad, and Qais al-Khazali, who recently threatened U.S. interests in Iraq over its support for Israel.

Kildani boasted of the Nineveh council’s actions on Alawla TV, claiming to have “restored rights” to the people. Yet local media rarely criticize him, reflecting his growing influence and the fear he inspires.

Protecting Iraq’s Minorities

The Iraqi government must challenge the Nineveh Provincial Council’s decision to replace officials with Kildani loyalists, which hands Iranian-backed militias control of the Nineveh Plains. Harassment by the Babylon Brigade at checkpoints must end, with violators prosecuted. Federal authorities should investigate and charge Kildani and others for election fraud, reforming election laws to ensure only minority community members vote for their representatives. The U.S. and international community must pressure Iraq to protect these vulnerable groups.

Call your representatives and raise awareness. Despite a media blackout, Christians are now less than 1.5-2% of Syria’s population and they live in fear every day. They have been murdered and driven out of Iraq. This is evil as all genocide has the hand of satan himself upon it.

When will the Middle East must learn that peace is the only tolerable path. Share this horror—regardless of your beliefs, ending oppression and evil is a cause worth fighting for.

Please pray for Iraq for we need a divine intervention in this world.

#hardnews #notsatire #Iraq