The prime minister of Iraq has promised to protect Christians there.
Nouri Al-Maliki was speaking after about 1000 police were deployed in Christian districts of the city of Mosul, 390km north of Baghdad.
The BBC reports Sunni fighters have been blamed for the killing of 12 Christians in the city over the past two weeks.
Hundreds of Christian families have fled Mosul, which remains one of the most violent areas of Iraq.
