[MUST READ & SHARE] Pope urges protection for fleeing Iraqi Christians via @iKanzee_RR

VATICAN CITY (AFP) – Pope Francis called on
the international community on Thursday to
protect the mostly Christian communities of
northern Iraq fleeing a lightning advance by
jihadist militants.
A statement delivered by his spokesman said
the pope joined the urgent appeals for peace
from bishops in the Middle East and called on
the international community to “ensure the
necessary help” reaches people fleeing fighters
from the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.
Tens of thousands flee jihadist push in north
Iraq a Christian clerics, witnesses said.
The Jihadist militants took over Qaraqosh,
Iraq’s largest Christian town, and surrounding
areas when Kurdish troops withdrew overnight,
fleeing residents and Christian clerics said on
Thursday.
“I now know that the towns of Qaraqosh, Tal
Kayf, Bartella and Karamlesh have been
emptied of their original population and are
now under the control of the militants,”
Joseph Thomas, the Chaldean archbishop of
Kirkuk and Sulaimaniyah, told AFP.
Several residents contacted by AFP confirmed
that the entire area in northern Iraq, home to
a large part of the country’s Christian
community, had fallen to the Islamic State
jihadist group