Three Iraqi Christians were murdered last Sunday and two others were injured in two separate incidents in the city of Kirkuk.

According to a news release from the Barnabas Fund, these attacks occurred at a time of intense hostility to Christians from militant Islamics.

The Barnabas Fund said the following quote has been posted on a number of various websites, "The General Secretariat of the Adherent of Islam Brigade has decided to address the final warning to ... the infidel Christian Crusaders ... and order you to leave immediately, in masses and permanently from the Muslim countries. There is no place for you infidel Christians among the Muslim believers in Iraq from now on. Otherwise, our swords will be legalized over your neck."

The Barnabas Fund said the commentary is part of a concerted Islamist campaign to drive out the Christian community from Iraq.

The news release said that although the Christians, as ethnic Assyrians, are the indigenous people of Iraq, Muslim extremists are trying to "cleanse" the country of their supposedly defiling presence. In the face of such threats, which are often followed through in violence and even murder, the Christian population has dwindled from 1.5 million in 1990 and today may number no more than 400,000.

The Barnabas Fund said in the April 26 killings in Kirkuk, which lies about 150 miles north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, a Christian man, Yussef Saba, was shot dead, and two of his close relatives were injured.

In the other attack a Christian woman and her daughter-in-law were murdered in their home.

The Barnabas Fund said the manner of the killings suggests premeditated execution, intended to send a warning to Iraqi Christians and foster a climate of fear.

The news release said Iraqi Christians recall the violence of last October in Mosul, when thousands of Christians fled from their homes in the northern city of Mosul. Fearing a similar exodus from Kirkuk, church and government leaders have called on the Christian community to stand firm and not be intimidated.

The vice-president of Iraq has called upon Christians "not to leave the country" and has requested the international community to give "help and protection" against the militants.

Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo, International Director of the Barnabas Fund, said in a news release, "The murder of three Christians in Kirkuk proves once again that Islamist militants are quite capable of carrying out their threats against the Christian community. The forthcoming withdrawal of American troops from the country is likely to make the churches' position even more perilous. They need our support to sustain them in their time of need."

The Barnabas Fund is helping Iraqi Christians with food, medical care, accommodation, small business start-up costs and other needs.

Source: By Jeremy Reynalds Correspondent for ASSIST News Service