Paris (AINA) -- One hundred members of the French Parliament demonstrated in front of the parliament building today in support of the Assyrians of Mosul, who have been targeted by ISIS. The demonstrators expressed their solidarity with the Assyrian of Mosul by carrying signs with the Arabic letter "n", which is the first letter of the word "Nasrani" (Christian) in Arabic. ISIS has marked all Christian homes in Mosul with this letter (AINA 2014-07-19).

Since taking over Mosul, ISIS has destroyed nearly half of the 30 churches in the city and occupied the rest, converting them into mosques and headquarters.

Nearly 2,000 Assyrian families have fled Mosul to the Assyrian villages in the north, including Ankawa and Dohuk. The water and electric service that was supplied from Mosul to the surrounding towns and villages has been cut off by ISIS. Residents are now using well water and their is a life-threatening shortage of water.

In a statement issued today, Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako said this is the worst disaster to hit Iraq's Christians since the coming of Genghis Khan.