Hard times for Christians in ISIS-controlled Iraq
ALQOSH, Iraq --Mayada Abdul Rhani and her children fled their home after Islamic militants overran Mosul and the neighboring villages.
As a Christian she was forced to make a stark decision: convert to Islam, or face execution.
Now, she told CBS News she doesn't trust any Muslims.
"They recruit and train kids like mine to behead people," Rhani said. "How could I ever live with those people? It was difficult to live with them before ISIS, now it's impossible."
Like thousands of others, she fled to the village of Alqosh, where the entire population is Christian.
The site is also home to the Saint Hormizd monastery, carved out of the mountainside. Its origins date back to the 7th century.
It's one of the oldest symbols of Christianity in the region -- and as ISIS forces Christians out of Mosul and surrounding villages below, it's becoming one of the last.
For the thousands of Christian refugees, it's not just ISIS, known in the region as 'Daesh," that's keeps them from going back. Father Gazwan Baho said people were shocked by the betrayal of Muslim neighbors they'd known for generations.
"Many of them were supporting Daesh," Baho said. "So we know that Daesh will go away from Iraq, maybe not this year, but the next, but the mentality of Daesh will remain in Mosul."
Rhani said even if ISIS is one day defeated, she'll never go back. For Christians, she said, Iraq is gone.
