Islamic State (ISIS) militants have destroyed several areas in Mosul and are driving Christians away to refugee camps. Those who fail to escape and are captured by the jihadists face a terrifying ordeal.
One refugee in Jordan said he was captured by ISIS militants back in 2014 after they took over the house where he and his parents were staying. They forced them to convert to Islam or pay the jizya, a tax on non-Muslims worth $300 per person. The man, who chose to be called Carlos, refused to convert and pay the tax, forcing the ISIS militants to torture him.
He was taken to an unknown location and was hung upside down on one leg. "They tortured me by electric shock, beat me with sticks, stuck with nails, and bound me with barbed wire," Carlos told Christian Aid. "They put salt on my wounds. I was shouting from the intense pain."
They tortured him until he was dragged in court, where a judge told him to convert to Islam or else face death. "I refused and said, 'If I die, I will die proud, because I am a Christian,'" said Carlos. "The judge responded, 'You will be shot and executed on Sept. 26."
Carlos was taken to the outskirts of Mosul during that date, but before they could execute him, the militant in charge received a call from a superior, ordering him to leave the Christian there. So they kicked and hit Carlos, then threw him from a car.
He could not believe his luck, but Carlos was so worn out from all the beatings that it seemed impossible to survive. "I tried to walk, but after a while, my bleeding wounds caused me to fall down and pass out," he said.
Thankfully, when he regained consciousness, he found himself in a hospital in Kirkuk. Indigenous Christian missionaries even went one step further by taking Carlos to Spain where his leg injuries were treated.
"In Iraq, they could not treat my leg and told me it needed to be amputated," he said. "But then I went to Spain, and my leg was treated in the Spanish hospital through an organisation. Thank God I can walk now, but I have nothing to live on here in Jordan."
