A HORRIFYING axe attack at a Christian New Year parade in northern Iraq has left three people injured after a man shouting Islamic slogans launched a violent rampage through the crowd.
Thousands had gathered in Dohuk on Tuesday to celebrate Akitu, the Assyrian New Year, waving flags and donning colourful traditional dress.
The moment an axeman shouting ISIS slogans was held to the groundX/@ScharoMaroof
XA parade-goer waves a blood stained flag in protest to the terror attack[/caption]
Separate footage appeared to show someone being escorted into the back of a vehicleX/@ScharoMaroof
GettyAssyrians, Chaldeans, and Syriacs in Iraq celebrating the new year by participating in the traditional Akitu Festival in the city of Duhok[/caption]
But the joyful celebration quickly descended into chaos when a lone attacker stormed the parade, singing an axe and shouting “Islamic State, the Islamic State remains.”
Three people were wounded in the frenzied assault including a 17-year-old boy and a 75-year-old woman—both suffering skull fractures.
A member of the local security forces, who had been operating a surveillance drone, was also injured.
Footage circulating online shows the attacker pinned to the pavement by a brave onlooker as he continued to shout jihadist slogans.
Separate video appeared to show someone being escorted into the back of a truck as crowds gathered around the vehicle.
All three victims were rushed to hospital, local officials confirmed.
Authorities have not yet released the attacker’s identity.
The teenage victim, Fardi, had travelled to the parade with friends and had been sharing photos of the festivities shortly before being attacked.
At the hospital, his mother Athraa Abdullah said: “We were already attacked and displaced by ISIS, and today we faced a terrorist attack at a place we came to for shelter.”
Another victim, 75-year-old Yoniyah Khoshaba was out shopping with her daughter near the parade when the attacker struck.
Recalling the horror, daughter Janet Aprem Odisho said: “He was running at us with an axe.
“He hit my mother, and I ran when she fell. He had already attacked a young man who was bleeding in the street.”
Both families have been displaced by violence — one from Baghdad, the other from areas overrun by ISIS in 2014 — highlighting the repeated trauma endured by Iraq’s Assyrian Christian community.
In the wake of the horror attack, Assyrians face a fresh wave of online hate speech.
Ninab Yousif Toma of the Assyrian Democratic Movement condemned the rhetoric and urged both the Kurdish regional and Iraqi federal governments to crack down on extremist indoctrination.
He said: “We request both governments to review the religious and education curriculums that plant hate in people’s heads and encourage ethnic and religious extremism.
“This was obviously an inhumane terrorist attack.”
The parade carried on despite the violence.
As the injured teenager was rushed away, fellow marchers wrapped his wounded head in an Assyrian flag – later lifted high once again, stained with blood and waived through the streets.
“This attack will not scare our people,” Toma added.
“We have a cause, and we marched today to show that we have existed here for thousands of years.
GettyThousands had gathered on Tuesday for the festivities[/caption]
GettyThree people were wounded in the frenzied assault including a teenage boy and an elderly woman[/caption]
APA scouts marching band performs during ‘Akitu,’ the Assyrian New Year celebrations[/caption]
“The Middle East is governed by religion, and as minorities, we suffer double — but we are resilient.”
It comes after the knife rampage that left five people injured near Amsterdam’s Dam Square is now being treated as a terrorist attack, Dutch cops confirmed.
A 30-year-old Ukrainian man is suspected of five counts of attempted murder or manslaughter “with a terrorist motive”, according to the Public Prosecution Service.
The suspect was brought before a magistrate today, who ruled he will remain in custody for at least two more weeks, local outlet NOS reports.
The shocking attack unfolded on Thursday in broad daylight when the man reportedly launched a frenzied assault in the busy Sint Nicolaasstraat – just steps from the city’s bustling central square.
Cops say the man – previously named as Roman D by Dutch outlet De Telegraaf – used multiple knives and appeared to select his targets at random.
The victims – from the US, Belgium, Poland and Amsterdam – were rushed to hospital, and four of them remain in stable condition.
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