URGENT: ISIS destroys 7th Century Church in Tikrit, Iraq

Tikrit (IraqiNews.com) On Thursday, according to a security source in Salahuddin province, ISIS elements blew up the Green Church, which is considered to be one of the oldest Christian churches in the Middle East, in the center of Tikrit (170 km north of Baghdad). The Church was built in the 7th century and belonged to the Assyrian Church of the East.

The source said in an interview for IraqiNews.com that “yesterday evening, the militants of ISIS bombed the Green Church in the area of the presidential palaces, with improvised explosive devices that were planted in its surroundings.”

The source, who asked not to be named, added that: “The bombing resulted in the destruction of the entire church.”

ISIS has destroyed churches, religious shrines and mosques in the provinces of Kirkuk and Nineveh, including the tombs of the prophets Jonah, George, Daniel as well as a number of ancient churches in the provinces of Salahuddin and Nineveh. In Mosul ISIS has destroyed or occupied all 45 Christian religious institutions

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