Mosul, Iraq, Feb 24, 2010 / 16:32 pm
The persecution of Christians in Iraq escalated on Tuesday, as three relatives of a Syro-Catholic priest were killed in their own home in the city of Mosul.
Bishop Georges Casmoussa of Mosul told SIR news agency that unknown men entered the home of the father and two brothers of Fr. Mazen Ishoa, in the neighborhood of Hay Al Sahaon on Feb. 23. After the house was broken into, the priest's father and two young brothers were murdered.
Fr. Ishoa was previously abducted in 2007 and later released. The latest reports do not mention anything about the fate of Fr. Ishoa.
The killings come amid increasing chaos in Mosul as targeted attacks against Christians continue to rise.