2010 Baghdad church massacre

2010 Baghdad church massacre
2010 Baghdad church massacre
Part of Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011)
	The cross of the Sayedat al-najat ("Our Lady of Salvation") Syriac Catholic Church in Baghdad.
Location	Baghdad, Iraq
Date	31 October 2010, ; 17:00 – ~21:30 (UTC+4)
Target	The Sayidat al-Nejat ("Our Lady of Deliverance") Syriac Catholic Church
Attack type	Raid; hostage holding; killing due to religious ideas
Deaths	Two priests; ; 39–44 worshippers; ; 7–12 police/security; ; 5 bystanders; ; all (perhaps six) jihadi attackers
Injured	78
Perpetrators	Islamic State of Iraq

In the 2010 Baghdad church massacre, six suicide bombers of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) militant group attacked a Syriac Catholic church in Baghdad during Sunday evening Mass, on 31 October, 2010, and began killing the worshipers. ISI was a militant group which aimed to overthrow the Iraqi federal government and establish an Islamic state in Iraq.^[5]

Hours later Iraqi commandos stormed the church. In the ensuing confrontation, fifty-eight worshipers, priests, policemen, and bystanders were killed and seventy-eight were wounded or maimed. World leaders and some Iraqi Sunni and Shi'ite imams condemned the massacre.

In late November 2010, Huthaifa al-Batawi, who was accused of masterminding the assault, was arrested along with eleven others in connection with the attack. During a failed attempt to escape in May 2011, Batawi and ten other senior ISI militants were killed by an Iraqi SWAT team.^[6] On 2 August 2011, three other men were sentenced to death and a fourth to 20 years in prison in connection with the massacre. In 2012, an appeals court confirmed the sentences.^[7]

^ Cite error: The named reference nyt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference NYT1Nov10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference guard1nov10-13.40 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference baghoct10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "Iraq arrests 12 over church siege". BBC News. 27 November 2010. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
^ "Al-Qaeda leader attempts Baghdad jailbreak leaving 18 dead". The Telegraph. London. 8 May 2011. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
^ Cite error: The named reference Ishtar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[nyt-1] Cite error: The named reference nyt was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[NYT1Nov10-2] Cite error: The named reference NYT1Nov10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[guard1nov10-13.40-3] Cite error: The named reference guard1nov10-13.40 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[baghoct10-4] Cite error: The named reference baghoct10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[5] "Iraq arrests 12 over church siege". BBC News. 27 November 2010. Archived from the original on 23 December 2018. Retrieved 6 December 2017.

[The_Telegraph-6] "Al-Qaeda leader attempts Baghdad jailbreak leaving 18 dead". The Telegraph. London. 8 May 2011. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2015.

[Ishtar-7] Cite error: The named reference Ishtar was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]