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“In battlefield you forget who you are, to which religion you belong… The only thing that you think of is how to defeat your enemy.”
Iraqi Christians terrorized by the Islamic State have formed a militia in Iraq to fight the extremist Islamist group. The militia, known as the Babylonian Brigades, is part of the Shiite-dominated Popular Mobilization Forces.
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The Christian civilians have said that they will fight alongside their “Muslim brothers” who have also been victimized by the Islamic State, the Christian Post reports. Rayan Al-Kildani of the Babylonian Brigades said that “ISIS terrorists do not differentiate among Christians, Muslims, Sunnis and Shiites – they kill everyone.” There are almost a thousand Iraqi Christians in the militia now.
Hundreds of thousands of Christians have been forced to flee their homes in Iraq and Syria as ISIS terrorists have stolen their properties and money, and killed their families and friends. In Mosul, for example, ISIS has forced Christians to choose between converting to their version of Islam, paying a tax, or being killed.
Many Iraqi Christians feel that they have been abandoned by the central government in Baghdad during the fight against the Islamic State. That is why they are now fighting the terrorists on their own, and joining forces with Muslims. They have received funding from international Christian groups.
Abu Yasser, a former Iraqi Army officer, said that Christians and Muslims have fought together many times in Iraq. “We drink from the same river and eat the same food; this goes back hundreds and thousands of years,” he said, adding that “In battlefield you forget who you are, to which religion you belong. … The only thing that you think of is how to defeat your enemy."