A TV host broke down on camera recently while discussing the persecution of Christians in Iraq.

Nahi Mahdi was speaking with two panelists on Asia TV when he was overcome with sadness over the travesties taking place in his country.

"(It is terrible) when people come and force you to leave your home," one panelist said in the July 20 airing, translated by MEMRI TV and reported by The Blaze. "This is what happened to the Christians today."

"Yes, the Christians," Mahdi interjects. "Today... I cried at home." The television hosts then began to weep, using his keffiyeh to wipe his eyes.

"This is one genuine Iraqi we have here," his guest stated, as Mahdi gathered himself.

"They are our own flesh and blood," Mahdi continued. "Some of them have left for Sweden or Germany... who does (ISIS) think it is to drive out our fellow countrymen?"

The Islamic State (IS), formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), has terrorised most of Iraq and Syria in the past several months an increasingly aggressive campaign to establish a militant, Islamic reign. Over 5,500 Iraqi civilians have been killed, over 11,600 wounded, and over 1.2 million driven from their homes since January.

"I want to take the people of Mosul and the government to task," Mahdi said. "They must take immediate measures to help these people."

The Nineveh Province capital was taken by the extremists in June, and frequent battles for control of the Mosul dam have ensued over recent weeks.

"Our country is like a rose," the host explained, "and its petals are the Christians, the Arabs, the Kurds, the Sabians, the Shabak people... these are all our countrymen. I don't know what to say about this."

"The Christians have done nothing wrong," Iraqi poet Abu Al-Hassanein Al-Rub'i added. "They haven't hurt a soul. On the contrary, they are a peaceful people, who love all sects.

"They are honorable people, with high moral values. They always maintain their sense of justice. We stand a hundred per cent in solidarity with them."