Will Coming Battle for Mosul Trigger a Humanitarian Catastrophe?

ERIBIL, Iraq -- The Iraqi army chokehold on Mosul is tightening. The ancient city is occupied by the Islamic State, but a major battle to liberate the city is near. It could cause an even worse humanitarian crisis for a region already at a breaking point.

Christian refugees who have already fled from ISIS just want the radical Islamic army defeated so they may return home.

In an all too familiar scene, another funeral procession took place recently in Iraq. This time it was for victims of a car bombing in a bustling commercial district of Baghdad. Members of ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack against Shiite Muslims.

It came as ISIS has started feeling the heat, desperate to regain lost ground in both Iraq and Syria.

Earlier this year, Iraqi forces recaptured Ramadi and Fallujah, and now the stage is set for a military assault on Mosul, the ISIS capital city in Iraq.

President Barack Obama recently sent additional U.S. troops to an airbase near Mosul, and the French have deployed heavy artillery in northern Iraq.

The Kurdish Peshmerga say they'll join coalition forces in the effort to free Iraq's second largest city from the clutches of ISIS.

CBN's Gary Lane recently spoke to Jaffar Ibrahim Eminki, the deputy speaker of the Kurdistan Parliament.

"The Kurds will be there, like to share this important issue. As you know, we are neighbor to Mosul," Eminki explained. "This ISIS terror group, they never belonged to this area. They will be defeated as soon as possible."  

Last spring, the United States and its coalition partners sent the Peshmerga  armored personnel carriers and artillery. The Kurds have repeatedly requested  advanced weapons. Many Peshmerga fighters only possess antiquated rifles for fighting the Islamic terrorists.

More than 2 million people are expected to flee Mosul when battle for control of the city begins -- perhaps by the end of this year. Most would likely flood into Kurdistan, a region of northern Iraq already overwhelmed by those who fled from ISIS more than two years ago.

Here in the Kurdistan capital city of Erbil, church leaders say they need more help for the Christian refugees. They still need food, clothing and other supplies.

They are Christians like former air force Captain Samir Feris. He suffered an abdominal injury during the Iran-Iraq war, and hot shrapnel tore through his leg during Operation Desert Storm. His family is weary of refugee life.

Although he has little money and possessions, Feris shared a lunchtime meal with Lane and two European dignitaries. Swiss emissary William Frei was touched by the experience.

"They have nothing and they received us with such a great openness of heart and with all that they have they have shared it with us and that is a great lesson. It's a great lesson of humility and of friendship," said Frei.

"And maybe faith?" Lane asked.

"And faith, certainly," he replied.

And while conditions now are much better than they were two years ago when many Christians first arrived in Erbil, life is still difficult. They have more privacy now. They're not living in tents. They're living in one-room apartments.    

"We and a huge number of other refugees lived outside in tents. We had no privacy. We lived in a trailer with 14 families," recalled Christian refugee Noel Marzina Garash.

The adjustment was difficult for the 52-year-old and his family because they had lived in a two-story house in Quaraqoush.  He had a good job as a tailor and his son, Samir, worked in construction. Now their family is cramped into a one-room apartment.  Both men are unemployed and dependent on others for help.

As another winter approaches, these faithful Iraqi Christians are hoping that Daesh (ISIS) will soon be defeated so they may return home. And while they'll have little to go back to, they remain faithful that God will provide.

"Our situation has not affected our trust in God," said Noel's wife, Selwa Garash.

And her daughter-in-law Selua insisted, "Even though we've lost everything, we will rebuild our lives."