Baghdad  - After a series of atrocities against Iraqi Christians in Mosul, around 400 Christians have arrived in Syria over the past fortnight to escape the harsh conditions in their own region, according to a statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

"Many Christians from Mosul have been systematically targeted recently and are no longer safe there. We are ready to provide support for those Iraqis that seek refuge in neighbouring countries," said Laurens Jolles, UNHCR's representative in Syria.

Syria is hosting 1.2 million Iraqi refugees, according to the statement.

In the last few days, some 20 Christian families arrived in the city of Qamishli, which is close to the Syrian-Iraqi border.

Since the end of September, hundreds of Iraqi Christians in Mosul have been killed, while many others have received death threats. Most have sought protection in surrounding villages. Mosul is located some 405 kilometres north of Baghdad

It is still not clear who is behind the intimidation, the statement said.

The UNHCR is currently assisting hundreds of Iraqi Christians who fled from Mosul to Syria. Most of them hoped to return home soon.

Meanwhile, Christian lawmakers condemned the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) for failing to protect Mosul's Christians.

"I call for the replacement of forces that failed to protect Christians in their areas, new forces capable of providing security should be deployed in these places," Yonadam Youssef told the Voices of Iraq news agency (VOI).

Youssef accused some of the government forces of cooperating with terrorist groups.

He demanded that the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki release the results of investigations on the displacement of the Christians of Mosul.

The Vatican's envoy to Iraq, Francis Assisi Chullikat, called for all Iraqi Christians to go back home.

After a meeting with al-Maliki, Chullikat said the Iraqi government is now prepared to quickly and decisively protect Christians in Mosul.

Iraqi Christians are one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. There are believed to be about 600,000 in Iraq, most of whom speak a dialect of the ancient language of Aramaic.

Iraq's Christian population is concentrated in the northern provinces of Arbil, Nineveh and Dahuk.

Iraqi security forces killed an Iranian man and arrested another after an armed struggle in Kut, south-east of Baghdad, General Aziz Latif al-Emarah told the Voices of Iraq
(VOI) news agency.

The two men held Iranian nationality, and were believed to have been in Iraq to conduct terrorist attacks, al-Emarah added.

The ISF confiscated four machine guns from the two men. Kut is located some 180 kilometres south-east of Baghdad.

Investigations with the detainee are still underway, the ISF said.

Iraqi border guards have reportedly arrested four members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard in the past week.

The US accuses Iran of providing weapons and assistance to Shiite militias in southern Iraq. (dpa)