The Iraqi Christian community suffered another loss this week with the killing of a 20-year-old student teacher in the northern town of Mosul.

Wissam George, who was found shot to death on the street on Wednesday, is the fourth murder to occur in Mosul since Sunday.

Three of the killings occurred within less than 24 hours.

Catholic Archbishop Emil Shimoun Nona said on Thursday that the murders have caused panic among the Iraqi Christian community, prompting several families to leave the country.

Nona fears that Iraqi Christians will become extinct if such violence is allowed to continue.

"If the situation continues as it has done, especially over the past few days, all the people will leave. It is very difficult to live in this kind of situation," Nona told Aid to the Church in Need.

"It is panic -- panic always. The Christians don't know what will happen to them -- it is the same everywhere: in the office, at school or even at home. They don't know if somebody is going to kill them."

The archbishop noted that he is unsure who is behind the recent attacks, although he has suspicion that the violence is related to politics.

"We think [the attacks] are politically-motivated -- that some group has something to gain if all Christians go," Nona said.

"We desperately need you to pray for us," he added.

Meanwhile, amidst the fallout from the violence, some Iraqi Christians have banded together.

In a new show of solidarity, the heads of the churches in Iraq formed a council this week comprised of members from the Catholic, Orthodox, Oriental and Protestant families.

The purpose of the Council of Christian Church-Leaders of Iraq, according to its founders, is to "to unite the opinion, position and decision of the Churches in Iraq on issues," related to the churches and the state, for the "upholding and strengthening the Christian presence, promoting cooperation and joint action without interfering in private matters of the churches or their related entities."

World Council of Churches (WCC) head the Rev. Olav Tveit congratulated the group on its formation, saying that he received the information with "great hope and deep satisfaction."

"The WCC has repeatedly affirmed that Christians in Iraq are an essential part of Iraqi society and have been an active component of the nation from its very birth," Tveit noted.

"Iraqi Christians have never viewed themselves as simply a minority community who stand for their own interests. They have always shown their deep rootedness in the history and civilization of Iraq."