Al Qaeda in Iraq Siege of Christian Church In Baghdad Ends In Horror, 52 Dead

Man oh man...if this doesn't show the pure evil of al Qaeda and quite frankly, of islam, I don't know what does.

Al Qaeda in Iraq jihadis besieged a Christian church in Baghdad taking the whole congregation hostage and when Iraqi security forces finally decided they had to act to free the hostages, all hell erupted and the death count stands at 52.

There's a lot of horrific details in the report from The Guardian here but pay close attention to how the Christian hostages were treated and also the claim that the jihadis were NOT Iraqis:

The death toll from a hostage siege inside one of Baghdad's leading Catholic churches has risen to 52, with at least another 50 wounded, as questions began to emerge about the scale of the Iraqi assault that brought the violence to an end.

Casualty figures have been rising throughout the day, less than 24 hours after al-Qaida aligned gunmen stormed the Our Lady of Salvation Chaldean Catholic church in the central district of Karrada.

Mahrouq said a group of about 100 worshippers were herded to the centre of the church by the gunmen who repeatedly taunted them. Another 60 or so were ushered to a small room at the back of the church by a priest. "They were saying to us, 'you are infidels,'" Mahrouq said. "Things like: 'we're going to heaven, you're going to hell.' They were just youths."

A three-hour lull in the violence, peppered by the sound of an occasional exploding grenade, ended just after 9pm, when dozens of Iraqi security forces blew open the church doors and stormed inside. The gun battle was ferocious, lasting almost five minutes.

It is not known how many casualties were caused during the rescue. However, survivors at Baghdad hospitals today told the Guardian that the gunmen had opened fire on them as security forces rushed in.

"Some of them were not speaking Iraqi Arabic," said Ban Abdallah, whose daughter, Marina Bresh, was shot through her leg during the initial attack. "They were contemptuous of us and they shot at the group inside the church several times before the army came."

The witness accounts appear to support a claim by senior Iraqi officials that the terrorists included a group of non-Iraqi Arabs, whose phone calls they said intelligence officials had intercepted.

Now, as we know about al Qaeda in Iraq from years ago, jihadis flowed into Iraq from all over...from Morocco to Algeria to Saudi Arabia to Syria...so it is indeed very possible that this group contained no Iraqis.

Below is a breaking video of the operation by Iraqi security forces at the church:






As I mentioned above, the treatment of these Christians as hostages is revealing - they are "infidels" and deserved to be killed by these barbarians of islam, right? Thankfully, over half of the hostages were rescued but what a heavy, heavy price was paid.

Baghdad church siege leaves 52 dead


The death toll from a hostage siege inside one of Baghdad's leading Catholic churches has risen to 52, with at least another 50 wounded, as questions began to emerge about the scale of the Iraqi assault that brought the violence to an end.

Casualty figures have been rising throughout the day, less than 24 hours after al-Qaida aligned gunmen stormed the Our Lady of Salvation Chaldean Catholic church in the central district of Karrada.

The massacre has left many members of Iraq's remaining 550,000 Christians questioning whether they can remain in the war-ravaged country, which has seen numerous attacks against churches over the past eight years. The forecourt of the church and its sandstone walls were left stained with blood and bomb damage, with rows of wrecked pews inside revealing the extent of the violence, which took place in two waves.

Worshippers who survived the ordeal today said it began when up to six youths wearing explosives belts and armed with assault weapons and grenades stormed inside as Sunday night mass began.

"There was a big explosion before then," said Mirna Mahrouq, 26, whose mother, Vivian Razaki, 49, was shot through the back as she cowered behind a pew. "They turned the lights off and started shooting, first in the air and then at the congregation."

Mahrouq said a group of about 100 worshippers were herded to the centre of the church by the gunmen who repeatedly taunted them. Another 60 or so were ushered to a small room at the back of the church by a priest. "They were saying to us, 'you are infidels,'" Mahrouq said. "Things like: 'we're going to heaven, you're going to hell.' They were just youths."

A three-hour lull in the violence, peppered by the sound of an occasional exploding grenade, ended just after 9pm, when dozens of Iraqi security forces blew open the church doors and stormed inside. The gun battle was ferocious, lasting almost five minutes.

It is not known how many casualties were caused during the rescue. However, survivors at Baghdad hospitals today told the Guardian that the gunmen had opened fire on them as security forces rushed in.

"Some of them were not speaking Iraqi Arabic," said Ban Abdallah, whose daughter, Marina Bresh, was shot through her leg during the initial attack. "They were contemptuous of us and they shot at the group inside the church several times before the army came."

The witness accounts appear to support a claim by senior Iraqi officials that the terrorists included a group of non-Iraqi Arabs, whose phone calls they said intelligence officials had intercepted.

Three vehicles of US troops arrived at the scene half an hour before the rescue operation began. The US military said they did not participate directly in the raid. Despite the death toll, US commanders today praised the conduct of the rescue. "Last night's operation by the ISF is proof of their tactical competency to provide professional security to the citizens of Iraq," a US statement said.