Iraqi ISIS suspect tied to Damascus church bombing

By Shafaq News

June 26, 2025

One of the suspects arrested in connection with the suicide bombing at Mar Elias Church in Damascus is an Iraqi national who previously resided in al-Hol camp, the Syrian daily al-Watan reported on Thursday.

The newspaper said it had obtained internal documents from the distribution of heating fuel in the camp, located in Syria’s northeastern Hasakah province near the Iraqi border. Among the listed recipients of humanitarian aid provided by the NGO Blumont in November 2023 was a man named Kinan Ali bin Ramadan, identified as an Iraqi citizen and resident of al-Hol.

His name appeared as number 15 on the aid list and, according to the report, matches one of the individuals recently detained by Syria’s Interior Ministry for alleged involvement in the bombing—an attack attributed to an ISIS-affiliated cell.

The revelation contradicted a statement issued a day earlier by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who rejected claims that the attackers came from al-Hol. “The statements made by the ministry’s spokesperson regarding suicide bombers coming from al-Hol are inaccurate and lack factual basis,” the SDF said.

The group added that its own investigation found no unauthorized exits from the camp during the time in question, aside from Syrian nationals transferred at Damascus' request and Iraqi nationals repatriated through formal coordination with Baghdad.

The SDF also stressed that al-Hol camp houses mostly women and children from families affiliated with ISIS and does not contain foreign combatants—casting doubt, they said, on the claim that non-Syrian suicide bombers could have emerged from within its confines.

In a press briefing earlier this week, Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba said Syrian security forces had dismantled the ISIS cell responsible for the Mar Elias bombing and prevented a second planned attack targeting the Sayyida Zainab shrine, a key Shiite pilgrimage site south of Damascus.

According to al-Baba, the cell was led by Mohammed Abdul Ilah al-Jumaili, known by his nom de guerre Abu Imad al-Jumaili and referred to within ISIS ranks as Wali al-Sahra (Governor of the Desert). He was reportedly based in al-Hajar al-Aswad district, south of the capital.

The ministry said al-Jumaili facilitated the infiltration of two non-Syrian suicide bombers into Damascus from al-Hol, exploiting what it described as "security gaps" in the vast desert areas of central Syria.

Guerra “dei 12 giorni”, Patriarca caldeo Sako: le strategie per “imporre nuovi regimi” possono peggiorare la situazione

By Fides

25 giugno 2025

Quella che hanno voluto chiamare “Guerra dei 12 giorni” ha sparso preoccupazione e paura anche in Iraq. Lo conferma all’Agenzia Fides il Cardinale iracheno Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarca della Chiesa caldea, in una breve intervista in cui vede nei fatti accaduti un ulteriore segno della crisi dell’ordine internazionale.

Davanti allo scenario della “guerra infinita” e dei bombardamenti giustificati come strumenti per innescare cambi di regime, il Cardinale ricorda l’esperienza irachena: ripete che “cambiare regime spetta ai cittadini”, e che le strategie di ‘regime-change’ possono “peggiorare la situazione”.

Bombe da Israele e USA sull'Iran, missili iraniani su Israele e le basi militari Usa in Quatar. Patriarca Sako, come guarda Lei a quello che sta avvenendo in Paesi vicini o confinanti con l’Iraq, e come vive tutto questo il popolo iracheno?

CARDINALE SAKO: Ciò che avvenuto è triste. Abbiamo tutti vissuto tempi duri di preoccupazione e paura. Il mondo ha perso l'ordine internazionale. Adesso bisogna ritrovare il buon senso e rigettare il discorso dell’odio, della violenza e della guerra. E’ peccato distruggere la vita e ciò che è stato costruito. La pace è un dono, dobbiamo accoglierlo e custodirlo con entusiasmo, facendo della tutela della pace un autentico impegno di vita.

Nei giorni scorsi, i bombardamenti sull’Iran sono stati presentati come una operazione volta a indebolire il potere iraniano e portare al suo crollo. Lei come considera simili ipotetiche strategie, anche alla luce dell’esperienza in Iraq?

CARDINALE SAKO: Bisogna rispettare la sovranità dei Paesi e risolvere i problemi tramite il dialogo sincero e coraggioso. Cambiare il regime spetta ai cittadini. Imporre un altro regime potrà peggiorare la situazione. Il cambiamento deve avvenire dall’interno, se i cittadini lo trovano necessario. Dopo 22 anni dalla caduta del regime in Iraq, non abbiamo ancora un vero Stato di cittadinanza, né giustizia, sicurezza e stabilità. La corruzione e il settarismo continuano.

Quali sono per i cristiani in Iraq le cose in cui porre speranza, in questo tempo e davanti a questi scenari?

CARDINALE SAKO: I cristiani hanno sofferto molto, insieme a tutti gli iracheni, a causa dell'Isis. Le sofferenze spingono all’esodo e all’emigrazione. Finora siamo marginalizzati, i nostri villaggi occupati dalle milizie, e la quota di seggi nelle istituzioni politiche riservate ai cristiani viene depredata… Per tutto questo sembra non avvicinarsi per i cristiani un avvenire migliore. Ma nonostante quello che avviamo sofferto, sentiamo di avere una vocazione in questa terra, con la nostra fede. Per questo possiamo rimanere fiduciosi, e attendiamo un futuro migliore.

‘Each new conflict’ in region ‘reopens old wounds,’ says Chaldean Catholic archbishop in Iraq

By OVS News

June 24, 2025

Gina Christian

A Chaldean archbishop told OSV News June 23 that he has been unable to contact his fellow bishop in Iran, following recent strikes by the U.S. and Israel on various sites in that nation.

Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar M. Warda of Irbil, Iraq, said he has been attempting to call fellow Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Imad Khoshabeh of Tehran over the past few days, but without success.

“I cannot reach (him). I tried many times, and I will keep calling,” said Archbishop Warda.

He also warned of the grave consequences of conflict, speaking from direct experience.

Islamic State Attacks in 2014

In 2014, Islamic State group fighters launched a devastating wave of attacks against religious minorities in northern Iraq, seizing Mosul and the surrounding Nineveh Plains. Christians and Yazidis, an ancient Indigenous community, fled toward Irbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, with thousands of Yazidi women and girls who were sexually enslaved by IS militants.

Now, as Israel and Iran trade strikes amid the former’s “Operation Rising Lion” — and with the U.S. launching June 21 attacks on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities — Archbishop Warda pleaded for an end to the escalating violence.

“As someone who has witnessed firsthand the devastation that war leaves behind — how it empties villages, scatters families, and deepens the wounds of identity and trust — I cannot help but echo the words of Pope Leo XIV in his recent appeal for peace,” Archbishop Warda said. “His voice is a beacon of conscience in a world increasingly deafened by the noise of weapons.”

The archbishop added, “War has never brought us lasting peace."

‘Memories of Shattered Cities'

“We know this by heart. Here in Iraq, we carry the memory of shattered cities and displaced people,” he said. “Each new conflict reopens old wounds and threatens to erase what remains of our fragile presence (as a Christian minority) in this land."

Instead, said Archbishop Warda, “It is time to stop the war machine. Time to return to dialogue, to diplomacy, to the hard but hopeful work of negotiation.”

The Middle East, ravaged by conflict for centuries — with continuous clashes over the past half century in particular — “does not need more destruction,” said Archbishop Warda. “It needs healing. It needs space for its people to breathe again, to believe again, to build again.”

He clarified that he was speaking “not just as a bishop, but as a man from this wounded land (of Iraq),” which although an overwhelmingly Muslim majority nation has been home to Christian communities for some 2,000 years, having been evangelized by St. Thomas the Apostle and his disciples.

Christians ‘Once Thrived’ in Iraq

Iraq was “a land where Christians once thrived, where faith and culture were deeply woven into the soil,” said Archbishop Ward. “Today, that soil is dry and cracked, not only by the heat of the sun, but by the fire of violence and fear.”

“Our prayers are with — and for — all civilians caught in the crossfire of this conflict … the innocent who fall daily, dead or wounded … the displaced who have been forced to leave behind their homes, their dreams, their loved ones,” he said. “As Christians, we do not pray only for our own, but for every human being whose dignity is being crushed under the weight of war.”

He cautioned that “if the world does not act now, if the international community does not insist on peace, the slow disappearance of Christianity from its birthplace may become irreversible.”

At the same time, said Archbishop Warda, “We are not without hope. Hope is what we teach our young people here every day. Hope is what gives our families the courage to stay. And hope is what I choose to hold on to now.”

He added, “Please pray with us. And if (you) can be a voice for peace — through prayer, advocacy, or solidarity — I would be deeply grateful.”

Lutto nella chiesa caldea. Si è spento il vescovo di Alqosh, Monsignor Thabet Mekko

By Baghdadhope* - Sala stampa vaticana

Lutto nella chiesa caldea in Iraq.

Si è spento Monsignor Thabet Mekko, che il 22 novembre 2022 era stato confermato vescovo della diocesi di Alqosh.

Di seguito la biografia di Monsignor Mekko pubblicato dalla sala stampa vaticana al momento della sua elezione a Vescovo Coadiutore dell’Eparchia di Alquoch dei Caldei il 14 agosto 2021.

Curriculum vitae

S.E. Mons. Thabet Habib Yousif Al Mekko è nato il 14 febbraio 1976 a Karemlesh (Iraq).

Ha conseguito la laurea in Scienze geologiche presso l’Università di Mosul e ha quindi iniziato il percorso seminaristico a Roma dove ha ottenuto il Baccalaureato presso la Pontificia Università Urbaniana e la Licenza in Patrologia presso l’Istituto Patristico Augustinianum.

Rientrato in Iraq, è stato ordinato sacerdote il 25 luglio 2008 a Karamlesh.

Ha svolto il servizio pastorale a Karemlesh fino all’invasione della Piana di Ninive nell’agosto 2014 e ha poi accompagnato i fedeli rifugiati ad Erbil. Rientrato a Karemlesh nel settembre 2017, è stato Parroco seguendo da vicino i progetti di ricostruzione e continuando l’attività di insegnamento di Patrologia e Teologia presso il Babel College.

Finora è stato Protosincello dell’Arcieparchia di Mosul dei Caldei.

President Aoun meets with Patriarch Sako during his visit to Chaldean Patriarchate in Iraq

By National News Agency

President of the Republic, General Joseph Aoun, concluded his official visit to Iraq today by meeting with the Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Iraq and the World, Louis Raphael I Sako, at the Patriarchate headquarters in Baghdad.

A meeting was held in the presence of members of the accompanying Lebanese delegation, during which talks centered on the situation of the Chaldean community in both Iraq and Lebanon, the role it plays in preserving spiritual and cultural diversity in the region, and the affairs of the Lebanese and Iraqi communities in both countries.

Patriarch Sako expressed his optimism towards Lebanon's return to normalcy after the crises it has experienced, expressing his support for the goals set by President Aoun for the country's advancement since his election as President of the Republic, particularly in terms of restricting arms to the state, combating corruption, and confronting terrorism.

"We hope you will restore Lebanon's former glory, for Lebanon is a model to be followed, and we have all hope in the new state and government," the Patriarch added as he addressed the President.

Touching on the dangers of sectarian fanaticism and extremist rhetoric that have even infiltrated into universities, fueled by the witnessed circumstances, Sako emphasized that "terrorists and fanatics have nothing to do with religion, whether Christian or Muslim, as faith in God contradicts all such practices." He recalled one of his visits to Grand Ayatollah Sistani, who stressed that terrorism and corruption are among the taboos.

Patriarch Sako called for "strengthening the Christian presence in the Middle East and providing a nurturing environment conducive to this goal through moral and political support," adding that this is what he felt on part of the new Pope, Leo XIV.

President Aoun, in turn, thanked Patriarch Sako for his warm welcome and highlighted the importance of this patriarchal edifice.

"The state is the one that protects sects, not the other way around," Aoun asserted, emphasizing "the importance of pluralism and the preservation of liberties, but only under the umbrella of the state," adding, "Differences are permitted, but not discord."

Aoun underlined the significance of religious diversity and its richness in Lebanon, and the added value it can offer to interaction and coexistence between religions and peoples.

He then spoke about Lebanon's experience with terrorism and the victory it achieved over ISIS, calling for "maintaining vigilance and caution against this organization and all terrorist and criminal organizations to prevent their return and expansion."

President Aoun stressed that "the state's fight against corruption has begun, and nothing is impossible as long as there is will."

He also shed light on the dangers facing societies, including drugs, which have ravaged families and become widespread and accessible to all social classes, poor and rich, causing devastation to families and tearing societies apart.

In this context, Aoun pointed to the steps undertaken by Lebanon's security apparatuses to curb this scourge and significantly mitigate its impact, describing this confrontation as a "long war, but one that must not be stopped."