Iraq this Week

People wait for the start of Christmas mass at the Mar Shimoni Church on December 24, 2016 in Bartella, Iraq. The predominantly Christian town of Bartella was recently liberated from ISIL as part of the Mosul offensive. The town's four churches were heavily damaged and defaced during the two year occupation. The Christmas mass marks the first official mass in Bartella since a mass was held on Aug. 14, 2014 just hours before ISIS arrived. Christian communities around Mosul are celebrating Christmas as the Mosul offensive continues. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

An Iraqi odontology student dressed in a Santa Claus outfit distribute gifts to impoverished children outside their shanty home in the Iraqi holy Shiite city of Najaf on December 25, 2016. (Photo by Haidar Hamdani/AFP Photo)

Christians celebrate during a mass on Christmas at Mar George Chaldean Church in Baghdad, Iraq December 25, 2016. (Photo by Ahmed Saad/Reuters)

A member of Iraqi security forces stands guard as Christians attend a mass on Christmas at Mar George Chaldean Church in Baghdad, Iraq December 25, 2016. (Photo by Ahmed Saad/Reuters)

U.S. soldiers enjoy a Christmas dinner at an army base in Karamless town, east of Mosul, December 25, 2016. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)

A U.S. soldier walks in front of a tank at an army base in Karamless town, east of Mosul, Iraq, December 25, 2016. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)

A U.S. soldier stands near a military vehicle at an army base in Karamless town, east of Mosul, Iraq December 25, 2016. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)

Displaced Iraqis, who fled the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, gather at Khazer camp, Iraq December 26, 2016. (Photo by Khalid al Mousily/Reuters)

An internally displaced Syrian girl runs through mud in the Bab Al-Salam refugee camp, near the Syrian-Turkish border, northern Aleppo province, Syria December 26, 2016. (Photo by Khalid al Mousily/Reuters)

Iraqi people flee the Islamic State stronghold in the town of Bartella, east of Mosul, December 27, 2016. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)

A displaced Iraqi woman, who fled the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, cooks food at Hassan Sham camp, east of Mosul, Iraq December 27, 2016. (Photo by Khalid al Mousily/Reuters)

Displaced women, who fled the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, make bread at Hassan Sham camp, east of Mosul, Iraq December 27, 2016. (Photo by Khalid al Mousily/Reuters)

Displaced Iraqi children, who fled the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, stand behind the fence at Hassan Sham camp, east of Mosul, Iraq December 27, 2016. (Photo by Khalid al Mousily/Reuters)

An elderly displaced man, who fled the Islamic State stronghold of Mosul, walks at Hassan Sham camp, east of Mosul, Iraq December 27, 2016. (Photo by Khalid al Mousily/Reuters)

Iraqi people flee the Islamic State stronghold in the town of Bartella, east of Mosul, December 28, 2016. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)

Iraqi men gather as they flee the Islamic State stronghold in the town of Bartella, east of Mosul, December 28, 2016. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)

Iraqi people flee the Islamic State stronghold in the town of Bartella, east of Mosul, December 28, 2016. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)

Members of Hashid Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) fire towards Islamic State militant positions in west of Mosul, Iraq, December 28, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Iraqi security forces deploy in Baghdad's southwestern Saydiyah neighborhood searching for kidnapped journalist Afrah Shawqi al-Qaisi, in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, December 27, 2016. Late Monday night unidentified gunmen broke into the house of al-Qaisi, a journalist and activist in Baghdad and kidnapped her, Iraq's Interior Ministry said on Tuesday, a reminder of the dangers journalists face in a country where authorities have struggled to maintain security nationwide. (Photo by Karim Kadim/AP Photo)

A soldier stands watch on the rooftop as people arrive for the Christmas Day mass at Mar Hanna church in Qaraqosh on December 25, 2016 in Mosul, Iraq. The predominantly Christian towns of Bartella and Qaraqosh on the outskirts of Mosul were recently liberated from ISIL as part of the Mosul offensive. The towns were heavily damaged and churches burned and defaced while under ISIL control. Christian communities around Mosul are celebrating Christmas Day as the Mosul offensive continues. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

An Iraqi soldier lights candles during Christmas celebrations at the al-Tahira al-Kubra church in the formerly IS held town of al-Hamdaniya, some 13km east of Mosul, Iraq, 25 December 2016. Hundreds of Iraqi Christians held their prayers at a church in the recently recaptured town of Hamdaniya, for the first time since 2014, with the attendance of the US-led coalition officers and senior Iraqi officers. (Photo by Ahmed Jalil/EPA)

A soldier from the U.S Army stands guard next to a defaced christian statue during Christmas Day mass at Mar Hanna church in Qaraqosh on December 25, 2016 in Mosul, Iraq. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Iraqi security forces clean the square of Saint John's Church before a Christmas Eve service in the town of Qaraqosh (also known as Hamdaniya), 30 kms east of Mosul, on December 25, 2016. (Photo by Safin Hamed/AFP Photo)

Iraqi forces guard the entrance to a Christmas Eve's Mass at the Assyrian Orthodox church of Mart Shmoni, in Bartella, Iraq, Saturday, December 24, 2016. For the 300 Christians who braved rain and wind to attend the mass in their hometown, the ceremony provided them with as much holiday cheer as grim reminders of the war still raging on around their northern Iraqi town and the distant prospect of moving back home. Displaced when the Islamic State seized their town in 2014, they were bused into the town from Irbil, capital of the self-ruled Kurdish region, where they have lived for more than two years. (Photo by Cengiz Yar/AP Photo)

Iraqis attend Christmas Eve's Mass in the Assyrian Orthodox church of Mart Shmoni, in Bartella, Iraq, Saturday, December 24, 2016. (Photo by Cengiz Yar/AP Photo)

29 Dec 2016 07:58:00, post received 0 comments