In Iraq, militants coordinate bombings near Christian churches

Published: 2006-01-30

ROME (CNS) -- Unidentified militants planted explosives near several Christian churches and the Vatican Embassy in Iraq, causing few casualties but triggering fresh fears among the minority Christian population. The near-simultaneous attacks Jan. 29 in Baghdad and Kirkuk, a northern Iraqi city, were launched just as some Sunday afternoon services had ended. A blast targeting a Chaldean Catholic church in Kirkuk left one parishioner and two passers-by dead and one person injured. Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel-Karim Delly of Baghdad told Catholic News Service, "We thank God there was very little damage" and so few victims. In a Jan. 30 phone interview from Baghdad, the Catholic patriarch said the attacks would affect not only Christians but "all Iraqis, all good Iraqis because they are sorry this has happened and we hope it will not happen again." In Baghdad, a wall in front of the Vatican Embassy suffered some damage after a bomb on the opposite side of the street detonated.

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