It is an undisputed fact that the Islamic State (ISIS) has been waging a campaign of genocide on Christians as part of its grand scheme to conquer the world.
But there has been no exact accounting of the number of Christians who lost their lives at the merciless hands of the Islamist jihadist and terrorist group—until early this year. In a report submitted to the U.S. State Department, the Knights of Columbus and the humanitarian group In Defense of Christians provided the numbers.
According to their report based on documented cases, between 2003 and June 9, 2014, at least 1,131 Christians – identified by name and place of death – had been murdered by ISIS, according to CNS News.
During that same period, the report said at least 125 Christian churches were also attacked or destroyed by ISIS. They include Saint George Church in Mosul, which was blown up on March 9, 2015; Virgin Mary Chaldean Church, which was attacked by car bomb on June 9, 2008; and the Armenian Church in Mosul, burned on Jan. 25, 2015.
More Christians were reportedly murdered by ISIS militants in 2015 and 2016, but the names and places of death of the victims have yet to be compiled in one document, CNS News reported.
This report became the basis for the official declaration by U.S. State Secretary John Kerry that the ISIS's ongoing actions against Christians, Yazidis, and other religious minorities constituted genocide. Britain, the European Parliament, the U.N.'s High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Iraqi and Kurdish governments have also declared that ISIS's actions genocide.
"Murder of Christians is commonplace" in Iraq, Syria, and Libya, and that "many have been killed in front of their own families," the report states.
During the ISIS takeover of Mosul, the second biggest city in Iraq next to Baghdad, some 500 people were killed by the jihadis, it says.
"In Syria, where the organization Aid to the Church in Need has reported on mass graves of Christians, Patriarch Younan estimates the number of Christians 'targeted and killed by Islamic bands' at more than 1,000," the report adds.
The report submitted by the Knights of Columbus and In Defense of Christians lists the names and place and "date of martyrdom" of 1,131 Christians who were murdered by ISIS. For instance, it says Alicia Nour was martyred in Mosul on Feb. 1, 2005. Ashoor Younan Botros was murdered in Baghdad on June 24, 2013. On July 1, 2015, Qays Abd Shaaya was martyred by the Islamic State in Baghdad.
