Kurdish troops could not repel a new ISIS attack, forcing them to retreat and leave thousands of Christians and other religious minorities at the mercy of the Islamist militant group.

On Wednesday night, ISIS troops attacked the town of Qaraqosh (Hamdaniyah) and the surrounding villages in Nineveh province, forcing the town's 50,000 Christians to flee, according to The Independent. The town, which had Iraq's largest Christian population, became a safe haven for Christians fleeing Mosul, following its fall to the militant group.

Kurdish Peshmerga troops, having defended the town and reinforced the front lines, began leaving their posts as the Islamic extremists advanced on the town, reports The Independent. Like the Christians from Mosul, those remaining in Qaraqosh and the surrounding areas now must decide to convert to Islam or die at the hands of ISIS.

"I was given three days to decide whether to become Muslim, pay jizya -- a special tax imposed on Christians under Islamic rule -- or leave," Khalil Touma, 43, from Mosul told The Independent.

As the persecution of Christians continues in Iraq, faith leaders have called on the international community for help. Pope Francis released a statement asking the world's nations to come to the aid of Iraq's Christians and for peace in the region, according to the Catholic News Service.

"May the God of peace create in all an authentic desire for dialogue and reconciliation. Violence is not conquered with violence. Violence is conquered with peace. Let us pray in silence, asking for peace," said the Pope in his statement and he appealed "to the conscience of all people and every believer," according to the news service.

Eastern Christian leaders echoed the pope's sentiment in a statement made at a meeting Thursday at the summer seat of the Maronite Church in Diman in north Lebanon, according to the Lebanese Daily Star.

"Christians in countries of the Middle East are suffering from harsh persecution, being kicked out from their homes and lands by takfiri extremists amid total international silence," the patriarchs said in their statement.

They also called for the international community, specifically Arab and Muslim countries, to help in these trying times, calling what was happening in Iraq a "forced demographic change" and genocide.

"There are 100,000 displaced Christians who have fled with nothing but their clothes, some of them on foot, to reach the Kurdistan region," Chaldean Patriarch Louis Sako told Agence France-Presse.

Facing danger are also tens of thousands of Iraq's Yazidi minority, the report explains. The Yazidi follow an ancient religion derived from Zoroastrianism and are seen as "devil-worshippers" by ISIS.