2010 Baghdad church massacre

2010 Baghdad church massacre
Part of Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)
The cross of the Sayedat al-najat ("Our Lady of Salvation") Syriac Catholic Church in Baghdad.
LocationBaghdad, Iraq
Date31 October 2010,
17:00[1] – ~21:30 (UTC+4)
TargetThe Sayidat al-Nejat[2] ("Our Lady of Deliverance") Syriac Catholic Church[3]
Attack type
Raid; hostage holding; killing due to religious ideas
DeathsTwo priests;
39–44 worshippers;
7–12 police/security;
5 bystanders;
all (perhaps six) jihadi attackers
Injured78[4]
PerpetratorsIslamic State of Iraq

In the 2010 Baghdad church massacre, six suicide bombers of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) militant group attacked a Syriac Catholic church in Baghdad during Sunday evening Mass, on 31 October, 2010, and began killing the worshipers. ISI was a militant group which aimed to overthrow the Iraqi federal government and establish an Islamic state in Iraq.[5]

Hours later Iraqi commandos stormed the church. In the ensuing confrontation, fifty-eight worshipers, priests, policemen, and bystanders were killed and seventy-eight were wounded or maimed. World leaders and some Iraqi Sunni and Shi'ite imams condemned the massacre.

In late November 2010, Huthaifa al-Batawi, who was accused of masterminding the assault, was arrested along with eleven others in connection with the attack. During a failed attempt to escape in May 2011, Batawi and ten other senior ISI militants were killed by an Iraqi SWAT team.[6] On 2 August 2011, three other men were sentenced to death and a fourth to 20 years in prison in connection with the massacre. In 2012, an appeals court confirmed the sentences.[7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference nyt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT1Nov10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference guard1nov10-13.40 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference baghoct10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Iraq arrests 12 over church siege". BBC News. 27 November 2010. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Al-Qaeda leader attempts Baghdad jailbreak leaving 18 dead". The Telegraph. London. 8 May 2011. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ishtar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).