Escalating violence in Baghdad has prompted Christians in the Iraqi capital to call for additional medical and humanitarian assistance. Violence has spiked in recent weeks after a period of relative calm immediately following the drawdown of American forces from Iraqi cities June 30th. California-based persecuted church ministry Open Doors has been in touch with affiliated personnel in Baghdad who has indicated mounting problems in dealing with the violence. “We watched a television report a few days ago about the explosions,” Open Doors shared from an affiliate’s e-mail. “It showed people crying, not because of the dead in the explosions, but because of no bandages and other medical supplies for hundreds of injured persons who were taken to the hospital. “Another day my friend went with his friend to search for his mother in the hospital; he didn’t know if she was dead or alive. During the search in the hospital, they found a lot of blood on the floor. The doctor checked each body and when there was a lot of blood on it, he ordered the body moved directly to the fridge for the dead, saying, ‘We don’t have time and bandages enough for these cases. We just save and medicate the simple cases.’” The same person indicated in a later e-mail that the number of deaths is being underreported. “It is another bloody day but worse, with a lot of explosions,” the Iraqi wrote. “Many people were killed and injured – 350 killed reported in the news, but we guess about 1,500 killed. I called my best friend, who works here in the foreign ministry, and I thought that he was killed. But the mercy of God saved him because he didn’t go to work today, but all his friends were injured and dead.” Open Doors claims more than 600,000 Christians in Iraq have been displaced since 2003 with 100,000 living in the Kurdish controlled region in northern Iraq. Around 400,000 have fled to countries such as Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Prior to the Gulf War in 1991, there were almost one million Christians in Iraq; now there are less than 400,000. “Please pray with me for the Christians in Iraq,” said Open Doors USA President/CEO Carl Moeller. “As these powerful e-mails from our grieving Open Doors co-worker indicate, the violence inside Iraq, especially around Baghdad, is escalating. They don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. Media attention now is being drawn to Afghanistan, but we must not forget our brothers and sisters in Iraq.” Diplomatically Iraq’s leadership is turning up the heat on neighboring Syria in the wake of the bombings. Iraq has withdrawn its ambassador in the Syrian capital of Damascus, accusing the Syrians of harboring two terrorists suspected in directing the violence. “Our relations with Syria have reached a crossroads of whether they choose to have good relations with Iraq, or whether they choose to protect persons who attack Iraq,” spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh told Agence France-Presse today. Links: Open Doors USA: http://www.opendoorsusa.org/ Iraq says Syria must give up terror suspects: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jXI6IhBuktyKulN4m_Yvci2K7dBw