By PressTV
March 25, 2018
The governor of the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh says thousands of displaced Christian families have returned to the country’s strategic city of Mosul ever since government forces and allied fighters from Popular Mobilization Units fully liberated it from the clutches of Takfiri Daesh terrorists.
The governor of the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh says thousands of displaced Christian families have returned to the country’s strategic city of Mosul ever since government forces and allied fighters from Popular Mobilization Units fully liberated it from the clutches of Takfiri Daesh terrorists.
Nawfal Hammadi said on Sunday that more than 4,000 families have
returned to the provincial capital city, located some 400 kilometers
(250 miles) north of the capital Baghdad, and have resided in its
eastern and western flanks.
Hammadi added that most of the Christian families had sought refuge
in the country's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, after Daesh elements
overran their areas and forced them to leave.
The official pointed out that there is now a small number of
Christian families in Erbil province, who will return to Mosul once the
current academic year winds up.
On December 9, 2017, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared
the end of military operations against the Daesh terrorist group in the
Arab country.
On July 10, Abadi formally declared victory over Daesh extremists in
Mosul, which served as the terrorists’ main urban stronghold in the
conflict-ridden Arab country.
In the run-up to Mosul's liberation, Iraqi army soldiers and
volunteer Hashd al-Sha’abi fighters had made sweeping gains against
Daesh.
The Iraqi forces took control of eastern Mosul in January 2017 after
100 days of fighting, and launched the battle in the west on February 19
last year.
Daesh began a terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks.
Meanwhile, at least nine people have lost their lives when remnants
of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group launched two separate attacks in
the northern and eastern province of Kirkuk and Diyala.
Captain Ahmed al-Obeidi said Iraqi security forces found the bodies
of five pro-government fighters, better known by the Arabic word Hashd
al-Sha’abi, outside their base in the town of Hawijah, located 45
kilometers west of Kirkuk, hours after they had been kidnapped by the
Takfiri militants.
Obeidi added that the victims were found handcuffed and blindfolded with bullet holes in the back of their heads.
Daesh terrorists also opened fire on a civilian car as it was
travelling along a road in the Hamrin mountains of Diyala province.
The attack left four people, including a woman and a child, killed inside the car and wounded two others.
The assailants fled the scene to nearby mountainous areas.