Christmas Day attacks kill 37 Christians in Iraq

While Christians around the world celebrate Jesus' birth joyfully on Christmas Day, it was a nightmare for Christians in Iraq as they face yet again two bomb attacks, at least 37 people were killed and more than 52 people wounded.

One car bomb exploded while Christians were emerging from the church after attending Christmas Mass in the Dora neighbourhood of southern Baghdad, which has killed at least 26 people. Another bomb exploded in an ourdoor market in another nearby Christian neighbourhood, killing 11 people on the spot.

"A car parked near the church exploded when the families were hugging each other goodbye before leaving. The blast was powerful," Ahmed Edan, a policeman on duty was quoted as saying by the Eljazeera news.

"Bodies of women, girls and men were lying on the ground covered in blood. Others were screaming and crying while they were trying to save some of their wounded relatives."

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which has also wounded 52 people; but terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda were widely believed responsible for most of the attacks on Christians. Their goal, experts believe, is to drive out the remaining Christians.

Iraq's fast-dwindling Christian minority has been a target of Al-Qaeda Sunni fighters in the past, including a 2010 attack on a church that killed dozens of people.

There were about 1.5 million Iraqi Christians before the U.S. invasion of the country in 2003, but the numbers have dwindled to about half that, and Christians continue to emigrate.