Contact: Lou Ann Sabatier, Communications Director, 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, 703-536-2643, 703-216-2941 cell, Lsabatier@21wilberforce.org

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2015 /Christian Newswire/ -- Christian Assyrian villages along the Khabour River are under siege.  Over a thousand families displaced.  Dozens kidnapped—the number swelling from 150 initially to now over 200.  Their fate unknown but given the horror that recently befell the 21 martyred Coptic Christians at the hands of the Islamic State, we can reasonably fear that if nothing is done the sword could await these innocents as well.

This morning, Archimandrite Emanuel Youkhana of the Assyrian Church of the East shared a grim report laying out in stark detail the needs of the newly homeless to include blankets, heaters and—perhaps most jarring in terms of what it conveyed—baby formula. 

He concluded with a warning from a source in the Arab Sunni village of Bab Alfaraj, who reported that "the mosque of the village announced and called the people to attend a mass killing of infidels in the mountain of Abdul Aziz on Friday (tomorrow)."  While impossible to confirm, the prospect is so grave that it demands to be aired.
 
Renowned religious freedom scholar and champion Nina Shea rightly noted in a Fox News piece earlier this week the strategic imperative of President Obama acknowledging that "ISIS has religious objectives, that its actions are not simply random acts of 'extreme violence,' and that ISIS aims to make the region – and beyond-- pure for Islam. Maybe then, America's generals would recognize that Christian, as well as Yizidi, communities are prime targets for ISIS…"
 
The Islamic State's aims are increasingly clear. The longer we ignore these realities the greater the likelihood that Christianity, in its birthplace, will exist only as a remnant.

Elyse Anderson is Senior Advisor and Director of Special Projects at the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative.  www.21wilberforce.org