AQ Continues Campaign Murdering Iraqi Christians

Iraqi Gunmen Kill 2 Christians

VoA News: Iraqi authorities said Thursday two people were killed and at least nine others wounded in a series of bomb attacks on the homes of minority Christians in the capital, Baghdad.

Police said that in the deadliest attack, a bomb exploded near the home of a Christian family in Al-Ghadir district, killing two people and wounding five others.

In a different neighborhood, militants planted a bomb near a Christian home, wounding two people, while another bomb exploded in western Baghdad, also wounding two people.

The blasts occurred after al-Qaida-linked militants threatened to step up attacks on Iraqi Christians during the Christmas season.

Last month, gunmen killed two Christian brothers in the northern city of Mosul, while a series of coordinated bombings targeting predominately Christian neighborhoods in Baghdad killed at least five people and wounded more than 30 others.

Those attacks came less than two weeks after an Islamist militant assault on a Christian church also in Baghdad killed 58 people, including two priests.

An al-Qaida-linked group — the Islamic State of Iraq — claimed responsibility for that incident.

As many as 1.2 million Christians lived in Iraq before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to oust leader Saddam Hussein. Many have since fled abroad due to sectarian strife and stepped-up violence by al-Qaida-linked Muslim insurgents.