AINA News
Timeline of ISIS in Iraq
Bookmark and Share

The Arabic letter "n" (inside red circle), signifying "Nasrani" (Christian), on an Assyrian home in Mosul.
(AINA) -- The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) captured the city of Mosul, Iraq on June 10. Almost immediately thereafter it began to drive Assyrians out of Mosul and destroy Christian and non-Sunni institutions.

  • There are no Assyrians/Christians remaining in Mosul, all have fled to the north, to Alqosh, Dohuk and other Assyrian villages.
  • All Christian institutions in Mosul (churches, monasteries and cemeteries), numbering 45, have been destroyed, occupied, converted to mosques, converted to ISIS headquarters or shuttered (story).
  • All non-Sunni Muslim groups in Mosul -- Shabaks, Yazidis and Turkmen -- have been targeted by ISIS. Most have fled.
  • Water and electricity to the Nineveh Plain have been cut off by ISIS.
  • Mosul is now governed under Sharia law.
  • 200,000 Assyrian have fled from Baghdede (Qaraqosh), Bartella, Karamles and dozens of Assyrian villages and towns in the Nineveh Plain north of Mosul.
  • 150,000 Yazidis have fled from Sinjar and Zumar. 40,000 trapped on Shingal mountain. Thousands have died from exposure. Thousands have been killed by ISIS.

See also: Incipient Genocide: The Ethnic Cleansing of the Assyrians of Iraq
See also: Church Bombings in Iraq Since 2004
See also: Attacks on Assyrians in Dora, Baghdad

The following is a summary of the events that have unfolded in North Iraq.

  • October 10, 2016: ISIS bomb St. Barbara Assyrian church in Karemlis (story).
  • June 17, 2016: The Assyrian Center of Learning Destroyed By ISIS in Iraq (story).
  • April 26, 2016: Mosul's Iconic 'Clock Church' Destroyed By ISIS (story).
  • April 12, 2016: ISIS Destroys Assyrian Archaeological Gate in Mosul (story).
  • March 12, 2016: ISIS Burns Hundreds of Christian Books in Mosul (story).
  • January 20, 2016: ISIS Destroys Oldest Assyrian Monastery in Iraq (story).
  • December, 26, 2015: ISIS Bombs Assyrian Homes, Monastery in Iraq, Cemeteries Vandalized (story).
  • May 26, 2015: ISIS Burn Assyrian Woman, 80, in North Iraq (story).
  • March 19, 2015: ISIS destroys 4th-century Assyrian Catholic Monastery in Iraq (story).
  • March 16, 2015: ISIS destroys St. George Monastery in Mosul (story).
  • March 11, 2015: ISIS destroys ancient Assyrian city of Khorsabad (story).
  • March 07, 2015: ISIS destroys ancient city of Hatra (story).
  • March 06, 2015: ISIS destroys ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud (story).
  • February 26, 2015: ISIS destroys Assyrian artifacts in the Musem of Mosul (story).
  • February 24, 2015: ISIS burns 8000 rare books and manuscripts in Mosul (story).
  • February 20, 2015: ISIS burns musical instruments, calling drums 'un-Islamic' (story).
  • January 28, 2015: ISIS destroys the walls of ancient Nineveh (story).
  • September 30, 2014: ISIS selling Iraq's artifacts in black market (story).
  • September 16, 2014: ISIS erases Assyrian culture, Christian teachings from schools (story).
  • September 16, 2014: Kurdish Peshmerga kill top ISIS military commander (story).
  • September 16, 2014: Kurds retake Christian villages from ISIS (story).
  • September 16, 2014: Iraq frces, Peshmerga inflict heavy losses on ISIS (story).
  • September 16, 2014: U.S. airstrikes against ISIS (story).
  • September 16, 2014: 75% of Assyrians return to their town in North Iraq (story).
  • September 16, 2014: ISIS orders all Christian, Shiite business assets to be delivered to the Islamic State (story).
  • September 16, 2014: ISIS using Christian homes in Mosul as factories for explosive devices (story).
  • September 16, 2014: ISIS using Yazidis as human shields Against U.S. airstrikes (story).
  • September 15, 2014: Assyrian delegate calls for safe haven, UN protection for Assyrians and other minorities in Iraq (story).
  • September 15, 2014: 12 Assyrians who were held by ISIS escape by faking conversion (story).
  • September 15, 2014: Yazidi member of Iraq's Parliament calls for arming Yazidis and Assyrians (story).
  • September 15, 2014: ISIS issues new curriculum in Iraq (story).
  • September 14, 2014: Some Assyrians who fled their town say they wish to leave Iraq (story).
  • September 14, 2014: Tens of thousands of Assyrian and Yazidi children at risk in North Iraq (story).
  • September 13, 2014: Assyrian Bishop testifies on ISIS threat at Senate Human Rights Caucus (story).
  • September 11, 2014: Five Christian Patriarchs meet with President Obama at the White House (story).
  • September 11, 2014: US House Hearing focuses on Christian persecution in Iraq (story).
  • September 10, 2014: Defense of Christians Summit, dedicated to aiding the Christians in north Iraq, was held in Washington (story).
  • September 8, 2014: U.S. air strikes wipe out Islamic State patrol (story).
  • September 8, 2014: Kurds pushing ISIS back (story).
  • September 8, 2014: ISIS forbids the use of Kurdish language in Mosul (story).
  • September 8, 2014: U.S. launches new airstrikes in Iraq (story).
  • September 8, 2014: ISIS takes hostage 100 children in Iraq's Nineveh Province (story).
  • September 6, 2014: ISIS beats, kills Assyrian man for refusing to convert (story).
  • September 6, 2014: ISIS detaining large number of residents in Mosul; looting of homes continues; ISIS holding Yazidi women; 25 Christians held by ISIS; Hundreds of Yazidi families held by ISIS; ISIS forcing Yazidi girls to marry its fighters (story).
  • September 5, 2014: ISIS sexually assaults new recruits (story).
  • September 4, 2014: Mass executions by ISIS (story).
  • September 3, 2014: ISIS exuections in Tikrit, Iraq (story).
  • September 1, 2014: Thousands of Refugees Apply for New Passports in North Iraq (story).
  • August 31, 2014: Iraq breaks Islamic State siege of Amerli (story).
  • August 30, 2014: 850,000 people displaced in 1 Month by ISIS (story).
  • August 30, 2014: Iraq Sunni rebels ready to fight Islamic State (story).
  • August 29, 2014: ISIS Forced Elderly Assyrian Couple to March Out of Baghdede (story).
  • August 29, 2014: ISIS beheads Kurdish fighter (story).
  • August 29, 2014: Kurdish fighters recapture 7 villages in North Iraq (story).
  • August 27, 2014: Syriac Patriarch calls Islamic State actions 'attempted genocide' (story).
  • August 27, 2014: Iraqi Christians weigh taking up arms against the Islamic State (story).
  • August 26, 2014: UN Commission urges UN peacekeeping force for Nineveh Plain in North Iraq (story).
  • August 25, 2014: U.N. human rights chief condemns Islamic State crimes in Iraq (story).
  • August 25, 2014: Kurds advance on ISIS in Iraq (story).
  • August 25, 2014: ISIS abduct 3 year-old Assyrian girl from fleeing family; 3 starve to death (story).
  • August 22, 2014: Iraq voids real estate sales in ISIS controlled areas (story).
  • August 21, 2014: ISIS loots Assyrian homes, vandalizes churches in Mosul (story).
  • August 20, 2014: Helicopters drop leaflets over Mosul urging residents to fight ISIS (story).
  • August 20, 2014: Five Middle Eastern Patriarchs visit North Iraq in Solidarity with Christians (story).
  • August 20, 2014: Pictures show aftermath of ISIS looting, plundering Assyrian town (story).
  • August 20, 2014: ISIS halt Iraqi offensive to recapture Saddam's home town (story).
  • August 19, 2014: UN launches new aid effort in north Iraq; Mosul dam recaptured (story).
  • August 18, 2014: ISIS forcefully circumcises Assyrian Christian men in Mosul, sells 700 Yazidi women (story).
  • August 18, 2014: ISIS kills more than 200 Yazidi men in the village of Kojo (story).
  • August 17, 2014: Kurdish militants train hundreds of Yazidis to fight ISIS (story).
  • August 17, 2014: Kurdish forces capture Telsqof, advance towards Mosul Dam (story).
  • August 14, 2014: ISIS orders all former Assyrian church guards to surrender their weapons (story).
  • August 13, 2014: ISIS forces child patients at the cancer hospital in Mosul to hold ISIS flags and then photographed them for propaganda purposes. ISIS completely loots and plunders all homes in the the Assyrian Christian towns of Telsqof and Bashiqa. 100,000 Yazidi refugees are now in the town of Khanak without food, water or shelter (story).
  • August 11, 2014: ISIS orders all families in Mosul to obtain approval before burying their dead. ISIS provides gasoline to Assyrians in Nineveh Plain to facilitate their departure. ISIS continues kidnapping women, with female ISIS members helping (story). Iraqi general says 70% of Yazidis on Mount Sinjar are dead (story).
  • August 10, 2014: Assyrian Refugees From Nineveh Plain in Desperate Need (story).
  • August 9, 2014: ISIS forces all women in Mosul to wear the veil, including the full head cover. ISIS establishes black markets for goods to raise funds. (story).
  • August 8, 2014: Iraqi Parliament passes resolution accusing ISIS of genocide (story).
  • August 8, 2014: ISIS captures Baghdede Bartella and Karamlis and moves north into the Nineveh Plain, causing 200,000 Assyrians to flee their towns and villages (story).
  • August 7, 2014: Assyrian Patriarch Pleads to the United Nations on Crisis in Iraq (story).
  • August 6, 2014: Kurds and ISIS clash outside Baghdede; ISIS begins using Yazidis as human shields; All the Assyrians from the villages of Bartella, Bashiqa, Bahzany, Tel Kepe, Batnaya and Telsqof flee (story).
  • August 5, 2014: ISIS shells assyrian town, 1 killed; Yazidis in desperate state (story).
  • August 4, 2014: Leader of Iraq's Yazidis issues distress call, appeals for help against ISIS (story).
  • August 4, 2014: Assyrians flee as ISIS approaches Assyrian villages in the Nineveh Plain (story).
  • August 2, 2014: ISIS Captures Yazidi towns, kills 2,000 Yazidis, causes 200,000 to flee (story).
  • August 2, 2014: ISIS loots 8 million dollars from Assyrian farms (story).
  • July 29, 2014: ISIS destroys or occupies all 45 Christian institutions in Mosul (story).
  • July 25, 2014: ISIS destroys the tomb of the Prophet Jonah (story).
  • July 22, 2014: ISIS and Kurds clash near Assyrian town, 2000 Assyrian families driven from Mosul (story).
  • July 19, 2014: ISIS plunders Assyrians as they Flee Mosul; families march 42 miles (story).
  • July 18, 2014: ISIS in Mosul marks Christian homes with the Arabic letter "N" (for the word Nasrani, which means Christian) (story).
  • July 17, 2014: ISIS issues statement ordering Christians to convert or die (story).
  • July 15, 2014: ISIS Stops Rations for Christians and Shiites in Mosul (story).
  • July 10, 2014: ISIS bars women from walking the streets unless accompanied by a male. Nearly all barber shops and womens' salons are closed (story).
  • July 8, 2014: ISIS Removes Cross From Church in Mosul (story).
  • July 3, 2014: ISIS seizes the house of the Chaldean Patriarchate and the house of Dr. Tobia, a member of Hammurabi Human Rights Organization and an Advisor to the Governor of Nineveh on Minority Affairs and General Coordinator with International Organizations (story).
  • June 28, 2014: ISIS kidnaps two nuns and three Assyrian orphans. They are eventually released (story).
  • ISIS begins confiscating the homes of Christians and non-Sunni Muslims. ISIS rounds up many of the security agency members of the police and army in Sabrine Mosque and asks them to declare "repentance" and surrender their weapons and other military equipment. After doing so, all of the prisoners are tried and sentenced according to Sharia law and executed. ISIS has prevented delivery of government food rations to Tel Kepe and other areas not under their control (story).
  • June 26, 2014: Kurds Clash With ISIS Near Assyrian Town East of Mosul, forcing nearly 50,000 Assyrians to flee (story).
  • June 25, 2014: ISIS limits water from the plants in Mosul to one hour per day. Residents in surrounding areas are forced to dig wells (story).
  • June 23, 2014: ISIS Rape Christian Mother and Daughter, Kill 4 Christian Women for Not Wearing Veil (story).
  • June 21, 2014: ISIS begins imposing a poll tax (jizya) on Assyrians in Mosul (story), orders unmarried women to 'Jihad by sex' (story), destroys the statue of the Virgin Mary at the Immaculate Church of the Highest in the neighborhood of AlShafa in Mosul, as well as the statue of Mullah Osman Al-Musali. Shiite Turkmen in the villages of AlKibba and Shraikhan flee after receiving threats from ISIS. ISIS arrests 25 village elders and young men who are Turkmen in the village of AlShamsiyat; their whereabouts is still unknown. (story) ISIS orders Christian, Yazidis and Shiite government employees not to report for work in Mosul (story).
  • June 19, 2014: ISIS destroys statue of the famous Arab poet Abu Tammam (story).
  • June 18, 2014: ISIS Cuts Off Water, Electricity, Destroys Churches (story).
  • June 15, 2014: Kurds attempt to remove an Assyrian council leader in Alqosh and replace him with a Kurd (story).
  • June 14, 2014: Assyrian, Yezidi and Shabak Villages come under Kurdish Control (story).
  • June 12, 2014: ISIS issues Islamic rules for Mosul (story).
  • June 10, 2014: ISIS captures Mosul, occupies the Assyrian village of Qaraqosh, enters the St. Behnam Monastery (story).



Type your comment and click
or register to post a comment.
* required field
User ID*
enter user ID or e-mail to recover login credentials
Password*