Skokie, Illinois (AINA) -- over 1,000 Assyrians participated in a 5 kilometer walk to call attention to the suffering of Assyrians in north Iraq, who have been forced to flee their homes by the Islamic State (ISIS). The walk was held in Skokie, a suburb of Chicago which is home to 20,000 Assyrians. There are 100,000 Assyrians living in the Chicago area.

Titled Nineveh5K, the walk was organized by a coalition of Assyrian youth organizations. It began at the Skokie Public library.

Before the walk began the organizers called attention to the plight of Assyrians in north Iraq. Since capturing Mosul on June 10 ISIS has driven 200,000 Assyrians and 150,000 Yazidis from their homes, killed thousands of Yazidis and Assyrians (also known as Chaldeans and Syriacs), destroyed all churches in Mosul and looted and plundered entire towns and villages that were abandoned by the fleeing Assyrians and Yazidis.

See Timeline of ISIS in North Iraq

Assyrians leaders in Iraq and in the Diaspora, as well as the Vatican, NGOs and concerned citizens, are calling for military intervention in Iraq to save Assyrians and Yazidis from the ongoing genocide by ISIS (AINA 2014-08-15).