Four Iraqi children were reportedly beheaded by the Islamic State (ISIS) after they refused to convert to Islam and instead told the militant group that they will not betray Jesus.
The Christian Post noted that the children 'refused to betray Jesus and graciously died in his name' when the ISIS militants gave them one last chance to say the Islamic words of conversion, Reverend Canon Andrew White, the Vicar of Baghdad, revealed in a recent interview.
In an interview last week that was published on the Christian Broadcast Network, Orthodox Christian Network, White, who is the only Anglican vicar in Iraq, spoke about ISIS' brutal mistreatment of religious minorities in Iraq.
Recounting the atrocities of the group, White said all the four children were under the age of 15. "ISIS turned up and they said to the children, 'you say the words that you will follow Muhammad.'"
The four Children said, "No, we love Yasua [Jesus]. We have always loved Yasua. We have always followed Yasua. Yasua has always been with us." White said.
"[The Militants] said, 'say the words!' [The Children] said, 'no, we can't do that.' They chopped all their heads off."
White, who had to leave Baghdad earlier last month after ISIS supporters sent him death threats, said that it was "impossible" for Christians to live in Iraq because of the Islamic State's brutal mistreatment of religious minorities.
"They have threatened to kill me. They are after me. They wanted that Abuna [Father] from England," White said. "So the Archbishop of Canterbury said 'you've got to leave now.'"
The Islamic State militants, who want to establish a country completely governed by the Muslim Sharia laws, has let loose a genocidal campaign against Iraqi minorities.
A UN report published earlier last month had noted that whether it is systematic rape and enslavement of female members of Yazidi or abuse of children, the ISIS' ultra-violence is a well-thought out strategy to cement its rule by terrifying the general population into submission.
