BAGHDAD (AP) โ Militants from the Islamic State group blew up a mosque and shrine dating back to the 14th century in Mosul on Sunday, local residents said, the latest casualty in a week that has seen a half dozen of the Iraqi city’s most revered holy places destroyed.
Mosul residents said the Prophet Jirjis (St. George) Mosque and Shrine was bombed and destroyed by the radical jihadist group. They spoke anonymously to The Associated Press for fear of reprisal.
The complex was built over the Quraysh cemetery in Mosul in the late 14th century, and included a small shrine dedicated to Nabi Jerjis, the Prophet George.
The al-Qaida breakaway Islamic State group captured large swaths of land in western and northern Iraq, including Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, which was captured in June. The group has imposed a self-styled caliphate in territory they control in Iraq and Syria, imposing their harsh interpretation of Islamic law. .
Among the mosques destroyed in Mosul last week were the Mosque of the Prophet Sheeth (Seth) and the Mosque of the Prophet Younis, or Jonah, said to be the burial place of the Prophet Jonah, who in stories from both the Bible and Quran is swallowed by a whale. The militants claim that such mosques have become places for apostasy, not prayer.
Since the Islamic State launched their blitz across Iraq, more than a million people have fled their homes, according to the United Nations. Many of those people have escaped to the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq since it has remained relatively stable since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
In a statement published on Kurdish state media late Saturday, Kurdish Regional Government President Massoud Barzani said the bombing of churches and mosques in Mosul “is against all the principles of the heavenly religions, humanity, and it is targeting the culture and demographic of the area.”
This can not be the Catholic St George, FWIW ๐
But it is. The Muslim people call him Jirjis but it is the same historical figure. This is not the tomb of St. George but a shrine in his name. The tomb of St. George is in Lod, Israel.
“The Church of Saint George (Arabic: ูููุณุฉ ุงููุฏูุณ ุฌููุฑุฌูุณ or ูููุณุฉ ู ุงุฑ ุฌุฑูุณโ Hebrew: ืื ืกืืืช ืืืืจืืืืก ืืงืืืฉ ืงืืื ืืืจืงืื) is the major shrine for the fourth-century Christian martyr Saint George (ุงูุฎุถุฑ Al-Khidr in Arabic) and is located in Lod, Israel. The current church, built in 1870, shares space with the El-Khidr Mosque.
Toward the end of the nineteenth century, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem received permission from the Ottoman authorities to build a church on the site of a previous basilica. The church is built over an earlier 15th century AD structure, and occupies the north end of the nave and left-hand aisle of the earlier church, from which there survive two apses – which, contrary to the normal rule, face north rather than east.
The Ottoman authorities stipulated, that part of the plot be made available for a mosque. Consequently the current Church of St. George incorporates only the northeast corner of the Byzantine basilica. The prayer hall of the adjacent mosque contains a column that once stood in the nave of the basilica. The church contains the sarcophagus of St George.” Source: Wikepedia