Violence continues in Iraq as Christian girl shot dead

According to police officials in Iraq a Christian girl was shot dead on Sunday when unidentified gunmen opened fire in the area of al-Nabi Younes (the prophet Jonah) in central Mosul.

Brigadier Muhammad Abdul-Aziz al Wakkaa, director of Ninewa police operations room said, "Gunmen in a vehicle opened drive-by fire at the 24-year-old Christian young girl at al-Nabi Younes market, killing her instantly," reports Voices of Iraq.

He continued, "The girl's body was removed to the morgue in Mosul." The Brigadier would give no further information on the incident. Mosul is the capital of Ninewa province and is 405 km north of Baghdad.

In Basra in southern Iraq there have been recent reports of Islamic extremists of the Mahdi army threatening to kill Christian women who refused to wear an Islamic headscarf.

According to International Christian Concern, Christians have been targeted by Islamic extremists in Iraq ever since the Allied invasion in 2003. Overall Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq comprise around 3% of the population.