VIDEO: Visually impaired Christian defies IS, refuses to convert to Islam

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - A visually impaired Christian told Kurdistan24 that the Islamic State (IS) pressured her to convert to Islam in Mosul, but she refused.

Kurdistan24 Correspondent Afsanah Shamohammadi interviewed a disabled woman in one of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in the Kurdistan Region. She had fled IS in Mosul.

"They told me that I won't go to heaven if I don't convert to Islam. I told them that I don't want to go to a heaven where IS criminals are," Maryam said.

She also mentioned that the IS militants opened fire on her while she was escaping Mosul.

Kurdistan Region is home to over 1.8 million refugees and IDPs who fled from the IS in Syria and Iraq.

As the military operation continues to liberate Mosul from IS, hundreds of people flee from the city on a daily basis.

The extremist group occupied Mosul in June 2014 and shortly after expanded to other parts of Iraq. So far, the group has lost most of the territory it held, and it continues to shrink in Mosul, its self-proclaimed capital.

Editing by Ava Homa