Knoxville, Tenn., Nov 17, 2010 / 17:56 pm
Susan Dakak learned of the shocking Oct. 31 attack that killed 70 people and wounded 75 at Baghdad's Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation before the world heard the news. As the attack took place, worshipers trapped inside the captured church sent her their reports via cell phone.
Dakak is a member of the Women's Alliance for a Democratic Iraq and a board member of the advocacy group, Iraqi Christians In Need. During the attack on Our Lady of Salvation, she told CNA that members of the Women's Alliance were “receiving phone calls, throughout the ordeal.” She said several hostages inside the cathedral “basically walked us through the whole thing,” sending e-mails and text messages detailing the captivity from which many never re-emerged.
Iraqi Christians, she said, are accustomed to this close contact with their friends and relatives who have emigrated to America. “We have people on the ground … sending us e-mails all the time, to let us know what's going on in Iraq.” Last week they had more to report, as a series of bombings targeting Christian neighborhoods killed three and injured dozens.
She received a video from another man in Baghdad, who described the experience of receiving a message from his son from inside Our Lady of Salvation. “He ran to help them … he went and stood outside the church, and there wasn't anything he could do.” Suicide attackers would eventually kill the man's son. Even the police, he told Dakak, had arrived too late to stop them from killing or seriously wounding nearly everyone inside.