Christian girl who fled home because of ISIS says she would only ask God to forgive them

Displaced Iraqi Christian children in an unfinished mall in Ainkawa, Erbil.Photo: Reuters/Azad Lashkari

Despite her hardships, a displaced Iraqi Christian only wants forgiveness for the Islamic State fighters.

When interviewed by a correspondent for Arabic Christian channel SAT-7 on what she would do if she had the chance to retaliate against ISIS for displacing her and her family from their home, the girl from Qaraqosh said that she would not retaliate but would want to ask God to forgive the Islamic State fighters.

"I won't do anything to them," the girl, named Myriam, said. "I will only ask God to forgive them."

Myriam is one of the more than 400 Iraqi Christian families the villages of Qaraqosh, Bartella and Kharamles that were displaced when ISIS took the major city of Mosul. These families are now camped in the unfinished Ainkawa Mall, in the Kurdish capital of Erbil.

The girl also told the correspondent in the interview that even if they have left their homes and are living in a refugee camp, she still thinks that God continues to provide for their needs.

"We used to have a house and were entertained, where as here we are not," the child stated. "But thank God. God provides for us.

"God loves us and wouldn't let ISIS kill us," she explained.

Mosul is one of the most important cities in the history of Christianity in Iraq. According to Almanar News, a 4,000-strong militia composed solely of Assyrian Christian men has been formed with the purpose of fighting the Islamic State in the Nineveh Plains and recover cities including Mosul from the possession of ISIS.