IS defeat

Islamic State (ISIS) took Mosul, Iraq, in 2014. Christians had four options: stay and convert, stay and pay, die, or run. One night, one hundred thousand Christians fled Mosul, leaving families and their way of life behind. 

Homes, churches, museums, neighborhoods - not only Christian - were ravaged and destroyed while IS was in control. The UN estimates that IS barbarity eventually displaced over 3 million people in the region.

But three years of fighting have culminated with a victory declared by Iraqi prime minister Al-Abadi this month. He said, "We defeated Daesh (ISIS) through our unity and sacrifice for the nation. Long live Iraq and its people."

"The US special presidential envoy for the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS tweeted . . "We congratulate the Prime Minister and all the Iraqi people on this significant achievement, which many thought impossible."

(cont'd tomorrow)