A solemn #Easter service at Our Lady of Deliverance in #Baghdad, attended by several dozen worshippers in their brightest Sunday best. Nine years ago, it was the site of a horrifying attack and hostage-taking claimed by the Islamic State of #Iraq that left more than 40 worshippers and two priests dead. Their names are etched in the stained glass wrapped around the church, and soft spring light filtered through them today. Above the altar, defiant words befitting of the resurrection many celebrated today: "Death was swallowed by victory. Where is your victory, oh death?"
Syrian Kurdish authorities announced today that they have reached a deal with #Iraq to bring some 30,000 Iraqi #refugees currently in camps in northeast #Syria back home. These Iraqis fled the dwindling territory held by the Islamic State group in recent years, with many ferried out of IS's last stand in #Baghouz. Humanitarian actors are concerned about freedom of movement and due process for returnees, most of whom are women and children but who may be perceived in Iraq as being affiliated to IS. The announcement comes a day after Iraqi officials told #AFP they have offered to try hundreds of foreign members of IS in #Baghdad in exchange for millions of dollars (link in bio). In this shot from near Baghouz in February, trucks ferry hundreds of men, women, and children - most of them Iraqi but also including French nationals - out of the battered enclave en route to Al-Hol camp in north Syria.
Several million Muslim pilgrims trekked to the Imam Musa al-Kadhim shrine in northern #Baghdad in recent days to mark the commemoration of the Imam's death in the year 799 in the Iraqi capital. The scholar -- respected by both Sunnis and Shiites but particularly revered by the latter -- died while imprisoned by the Caliph Harun al-Rashid and is buried in this glittering double-domed mausoleum. Massive crowds arrived from other parts of Iraq, as well as #Iran, #Gulf countries, and as far away as #Pakistan to pay homage, with particularly savvy worshippers taking shortcuts through #Kadhimiyah's old city. Pilgrims attended a funeral reenactment inside the shrine itself, while others outside smacked their chests in mourning over the Imam's death. #religion #history #Islam #shrine
