Mosul is ‘completely destroyed,’ prelate reports

July 21, 2017

“Today, Mosul is completely distroyed,” reports the city’s Syric-Catholic Bishop Petros Mouche. “Everything needs to be rebuilt.”

Visiting the Iraqi city, which was recently liberated from the Islamic State, the bishop told Aid to the Church in Need that it would be “a few years” before families could resume living in Mosul itself. For now, he said, some refugees have returned to see the condition of their old homes, but “one cannot permanently stay in Mosul.”

“However, many people can return to the Nineveh Plains,” the bishop said. About 600 families have resettled in that area, finding work and rebuilding their lives. Some may eventually move back into Mosul, once the city is cleared of the devastation that began when the Islamic State took overy the city three years ago.

 

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Further information:

• Archbishop reclaims his Archdiocese of Mosul (ACN)