Persecution of Christians by the Islamic State | |
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Part of Syrian civil war War in Iraq (2013–2017) Sinai insurgency Terrorism in Egypt | |
Location | Iraq Egypt Syria Libya Nigeria Democratic Republic of the Congo Mozambique |
Date | Ongoing |
Target | Christians (mostly Assyrians, Arab Christians, Armenians, Copts, Citadel Christians, and other groups) |
Attack type | Genocidal massacre, religious persecution, ethnic cleansing, human trafficking and forced conversions to Sunni Islam. |
Perpetrators | Islamic State |
Defenders | Christian militias in Iraq and Syria Iraqi Armed Forces Peshmerga CJTF–OIR Syrian Armed Forces Free Syrian Army Egyptian Armed Forces Libyan National Army |
The persecution of Christians by the Islamic State involves the systematic mass murder[1][2][3] of Christian minorities, within the regions of Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique and Nigeria controlled by the Islamic extremist group Islamic State. Persecution of Christian minorities climaxed following the Syrian civil war and later by its spillover.[4][5]
According to US diplomat Alberto M. Fernandez, "While the majority of the victims of the conflict which is raging in Syria and Iraq have been Muslims, Christians have borne a heavy burden given their small numbers."[6]
Fernandez
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).