MESOP DOCUMENTATION : [UPDATED] Timeline of ISIS in Iraq
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 have been cut off by ISIS. The water shortage in the areas surrounding Mosul is now a full-blown crisis. Residents have been forced to dig wells for drinking water. Water tankers are providing some relief.
- 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.
The following is a summary of the events that have unfolded in North Iraq.
- August 20: Pictures show aftermath of ISIS looting, plundering Assyrian town (story).
- August 20: ISIS halt Iraqi offensive to recapture Saddam’s home town (story).
- August 19: UN launches new aid effort in north Iraq; Mosul dam recaptured (story).
- August 18: ISIS forcefully circumcises Assyrian Christian men in Mosul, sells 700 Yazidi women (story).
- August 18: ISIS kills more than 200 Yazidi men in the village of Kojo (story).
- August 17: Kurdish militants train hundreds of Yazidis to fight ISIS (story).
- August 17: Kurdish forces capture Telsqof, advance towards Mosul Dam (story).
- August 14: ISIS orders all former Assyrian church guards to surrender their weapons (story).
- August 13: 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: 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 9: 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: Iraqi Parliament passes resolution accusing ISIS of genocide (story).
- August 8: 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: Assyrian Patriarch Pleads to the United Nations on Crisis in Iraq (story).
- August 6: 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: ISIS shells assyrian town, 1 killed; Yazidis in desperate state (story).
- August 4: Leader of Iraq’s Yazidis issues distress call, appeals for help against ISIS (story).
- August 4: Assyrians flee as ISIS approaches Assyrian villages in the Nineveh Plain (story).
- August 2: ISIS Captures Yazidi towns, kills two 2,000 Yazidis, causes 200,000 to flee (story).
- August 2: ISIS loots 8 million dollars from Assyrian farms (story).
- July 29: ISIS destroys or occupies all 45 Christian institutions in Mosul (story).
- July 25: ISIS destroys the tomb of the Prophet Jonah (story).
- July 22: ISIS and Kurds clash near Assyrian town, 2000 Assyrian families driven from Mosul (story).
- July 19: ISIS plunders Assyrians as they Flee Mosul; families march 42 miles (story).
- July 18: ISIS in Mosul marks Christian homes with the Arabic letter “N” (for the word Nasrani, which means Christian) (story).
- July 17: ISIS issues statement ordering Christians to convert or die (story).
- July 15: ISIS Stops Rations for Christians and Shiites in Mosul (story).
- July 10: ISIS bars women from walking the streets unless accompanied by a male. Nearly all barber shops and womens’ salons are closed (story).
- July 8: ISIS Removes Cross From Church in Mosul (story).
- July 3: 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: 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: Kurds Clash With ISIS Near Assyrian Town East of Mosul, forcing nearly 50,000 Assyrians to flee (story).
- June 25: 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: ISIS Rape Christian Mother and Daughter, Kill 4 Christian Women for Not Wearing Veil (story).
- June 21: 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: ISIS destroys statue of the famous Arab poet Abu Tammam (story).
- June 18: ISIS Cuts Off Water, Electricity, Destroys Churches (story).
- June 15: Kurds attempt to remove an Assyrian council leader in Alqosh and replace him with a Kurd (story).
- June 14: Assyrian, Yezidi and Shabak Villages come under Kurdish Control (story).
- June 12: ISIS issues Islamic rules for Mosul (story).
- June 10: ISIS captures Mosul, occupies the Assyrian village of Qaraqosh, enters the St. Behnam Monastery, bombs an Armenian church (story).