Assyrians attacked during national Akitu parade in Nohadra
Assyrians found themselves under attack during the national new year parade in Nohadra (Dohuk), Northern Iraq.
A muslim man infiltrated a gathering of Assyrians celebrating the Assyrian New Year Akitu festival in central Nohadra on Tuesday 1 April. The attacker mauled a 70-year-old-woman and a young man with an axe while shouting Islamic calls for violence in Kurdish.
Other Assyrians were able to overpower and disarm the attacker until security forces arrived. Videos circulating on local media platforms showed how a group of Assyrian men apprehended the attacker.
Local authorities announced on Wednesday that the attack was carried out by a Kurdish Syrian national, believing him to be tied to an Islamic group.
The attack is the latest in a long series of threats, systematic discrimination and oppression facing Assyrians in Northern Iraq.
