Security Boosted Around Mosul

Tents are set up for displaced Iraqi Christian families in Burtulla, near Mosul, after a wave of killings by extremists. (By Emad Matti -- Associated Press)

Toma said that 350 families had sought refuge in the village of Tilkef in his diocese, and that 50 were living in the church. He said U.S. forces were not keeping the population safe.

"If America really wants to make democracy and peace in Iraq, they have to establish safety for the civilians first," he said.

A 30-year-old carpenter who identified himself only as Bassam said in an interview that his home was among those blown up in Mosul in recent days. His family had fled before the explosion.

"My family and I, nine people, are living in one room right now inside a church. We don't have anything except our clothes," said Bassam, who was interviewed in the town of Bashika, near Mosul. "I don't even know what to ask for, because I lost everything, even my memories. . . . They are buried in the rubble of my house."

Most Iraqi Christians are Chaldeans, an Eastern Rite denomination that recognizes the pope's authority. Others belong to the Assyrian Catholic Church or Protestant denominations.

Meanwhile, two car bombs blew up in Mosul on Sunday, killing seven Iraqis, police said. One of the bombs was targeting a U.S. military patrol, and the other was aimed at a police patrol, they said.

In Baghdad, a car bomb was detonated remotely Sunday on a street lined with shops, killing eight people and wounding 13, Interior Ministry officials said. The blast occurred in the southwestern Bayya neighborhood, where many Sunni families were forced out by Shiite militias last year.

The U.S. military put the toll at five dead and 12 injured.

A special correspondent in Mosul contributed to this report.