Why Christians Need Self Rule in Iraq by Uzay Bulut  •  March 30, 2018 at 5:00 am         "These murders are giving us yet another signal that there is no place for Assyrian Christians in Iraq." — Ashur Sargon Eskrya, President of the Assyrian Aid Society-Iraq. "The only way for us to have a bright future is to establish a local administration in the Nineveh Plain lands, which will be a safe haven for all persecuted communities, including Yazidis... [It] should be protected internationally. This would also include forming a no-fly zone, and having the province monitored by international powers for a temporary period until we strengthen our military force and reconstruct our areas." — Athra Kado, the head of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, Alqosh, Iraq. Pictured: Soldiers of the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU), an Assyrian security force, in a training exercise. (Image source: NPU) On March 8, three members of an Assyrian Christian family -- Dr. Hisham Maskoni, his wife, Dr. Shadha Malik Dano, and her elderly mother -- were stabbed to death in their home in Baghdad. The two doctors, who had left Iraq, the country of their birth, in 2003, returned five years ago to work at St. Raphael Hospital in the capital. The victims, who lived in a neighborhood controlled by a Shiite militia, had been tortured, according to Ashur Sargon Eskrya, president of the Assyrian Aid Society-Iraq, in an interview with Gatestone. Eskrya also said that the motive behind the killings -- as in the case of an innocent Christian killed in Baghdad in February -- had not been established, and that so far, no suspects have been arrested. "These murders," he added, "are giving us yet another signal that there is no place for Assyrian Christians in Iraq." Continue Reading Article