2010 Baghdad church massacre
In the 2010 Baghdad church massacre, six suicide bombers of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) militant group attacked a Syriac Catholic church in Baghdad during Sunday evening Mass, on 31 October, 2010, and began killing the worshipers. ISI was a militant group which aimed to overthrow the Iraqi federal government and establish an Islamic state in Iraq.
| 2010 Baghdad church massacre | |
|---|---|
| Part of Iraqi insurgency (2003–2011) | |
The cross of the Sayedat al-najat ("Our Lady of Salvation") Syriac Catholic Church in Baghdad. | |
| Location | Baghdad, Iraq |
| Date | 31 October 2010, 17:00 – ~21:30 (UTC+4) |
| Target | The Sayidat al-Nejat ("Our Lady of Deliverance") Syriac Catholic Church |
Attack type | Raid; hostage holding; killing due to religious ideas |
| Deaths | Two priests; 39–44 worshippers; 7–12 police/security; 5 bystanders; all (perhaps six) jihadi attackers |
| Injured | 78 |
| Perpetrators | Islamic State of Iraq |
Hours later Iraqi commandos stormed the church. In the ensuing confrontation, fifty-eight worshipers, priests, policemen, and bystanders were killed and seventy-eight were wounded or maimed. World leaders and some Iraqi Sunni and Shi'ite imams condemned the massacre.
In late November 2010, Huthaifa al-Batawi, who was accused of masterminding the assault, was arrested along with eleven others in connection with the attack. During a failed attempt to escape in May 2011, Batawi and ten other senior ISI militants were killed by an Iraqi SWAT team. On 2 August 2011, three other men were sentenced to death and a fourth to 20 years in prison in connection with the massacre. In 2012, an appeals court confirmed the sentences.