Chaldean Cathedral of Kirkuk and the ACOE Maar Afram Church, wounding three bystanders. Since the start of the Iraq War, there have been at least 46 churches and monasteries bombed. Threats on population Leaders of Iraq's Christian community estimate that over two-thirds of the country's Christian population may have fled the country or been internally displaced since the US-led invasion in 2003. While exact numbers are unknown, reports suggest that whole neighborhoods of Christians have left the cities of Baghdad and Al-Basrah, and that both Sunni and Shiite insurgent groups and militias have threatened Christians. Religious official targets Youssef Adel, a Syriac Orthodox priest with Saint Peter's Church in Baghdad's Karada neighbourhood, was killed by gunmen while travelling in a car on 5 April 2008. On 11 April, President Bush was interviewed by Cliff Kincaid of the EWTN Global Catholic Network; after being informed about the deteriorating situation of the Assyrians; President Bush was quoted as saying "This is a Muslim government that has failed to protect the Christians. In fact, it discriminates against them....It’s time to order U.S. troops to protect Christian churches and believers." Statistics A 1950 CIA numbers report on Iraq estimated 98,000 Chaldeans, 30,000 Nestorians, 25,000 Syriac Catholics and 12,000 Jacobites. The report used the name Assyrians, in the ethnic sense, for Nestorians, and also noted that Assyrians may be members of the Chaldean and Protestant Churches. According to a report by the Assyrian Policy Institute Before the war in Iraq, the number of Assyrians in northern Iraq was estimated at over 1.5 million According to statistics gathered by the Roman Catholic Church when doing censuses of Chaldean Catholic diocese in Iraq in 2012 and 2013, Chaldo-Assyrians in Iraq numbered 230,071 people. A population project run by Shlama Foundation has determined the Assyrian population of Iraq to be at a total of 142,105 in October 2022. See also Assyrian elections in Iraq Assyrian genocide Assyrian independence movement Christianity in Iraq Proposals for Assyrian autonomy in Iraq List of Assyrian settlements Minorities in Iraq Simele massacre Persecution of Assyrians by the Islamic State Notes References Sources External links Assyrian Council of Europe Press Releases Assyrian ethnic groups Demographics of Iraq Ethnic groups in Iraq Society of Iraq