Iraq, Syria bear the brunt of jihadists

Hundreds of Christian families abandoned homes in Mosul to jihadist gunmen yesterday as they fled an ultimatum threatening their community's centuries-old presence in the northern Iraqi city as more atrocities are reported in Syria.
An AFP correspondent in Mosul, the main Iraqi hub of the Islamic State (IS) group's proclaimed "caliphate", said Christians were squeezing into private cars and taxis to beat a noon deadline.
"Some families have had all their money and jewellery taken from them at an insurgent checkpoint as they fled the city," said Abu Rayan, a Mosul Christian who had just driven out with his family.
"Some of our homes have already been confiscated and I know families who have handed their keys to neighbours, asking them to look after their property with the hope they would return one day."
The jihadists who have run the city since a sweeping military offensive that began six weeks ago has told the thousands of Christians in Mosul they could convert, pay a special tax or leave.
An earlier statement by Mosul's new rulers had said there would be "nothing for them but the sword" if Christians did not abide by those conditions by 0900 GMT yesterday.
The Islamic State "seems intent on wiping out all traces of minority groups from areas it now controls in Iraq," Human Rights Watch said in a statement Saturday.
The mass displacement was the latest in weeks of turmoil which has forced more than 600,000 people from their homes, left thousands dead and brought Iraq to the brink of collapse.
Meanwhile, IS jihadists have killed 270 Syrian regime fighters, civilian security guards and staff since seizing a gas field in Homs province, most of whom were executed, a monitoring group said yesterday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that a woman accused of adultery was stoned to death by IS in the northern city of Raqa, in the second such case in as many days.