Mosul (Agenzia Fides) – “In the villages in the Nineveh plain that accommodated part of the population fled from Mosul, the situation is worsening day by day. There has been no water and electricity for two days. Fuel is beginning to run out. And last night a part of Mosul was bombed, causing a new exodus of civilians”. This is how the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul Amel Shamon Nona describes to Fides Agency the progressive deterioration of the living conditions of the population after the offensive that has placed the city under the control of the militia of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
Meanwhile, today, Wednesday, June 18, in all the Chaldean communities in the world the day of prayer and fasting for peace in Iraq convened by the Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako is observed. “Here in the village of Tilkif” says Mgr. Nona “we will pray with children and families, asking the Sacred Heart of Jesus to build peace in our hearts, and to preserve all of our fellow citizens from violence and war”.
With regards to the speculation about possible military intervention of foreign powers, the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul recalls that “already here in Iraq we have seen so many times that war and military interventions do not solve anything and the problems sooner or later explode again in a more devastating way. A common language and instruments of dialogue must be found with patience that engage all Iraqis”.
Meanwhile, a first exploratory visit of a team of Unicef in the Nineveh plain has been made in order to promote in coming days initiatives for the benefit of children and young people involved in the exodus from the conflict zones. In the UNICEF office in Erbil there are about 50 people. “Our first priority” says to Fides Marzio Babille, a UNICEF Representative for Iraq, “is to protect children in Iraq, with particular attention to minority communities that in this area have been penalized for some time, and are now living the traumatic experience of having to flee their homes”.(GV) (Agenzia Fides 18/06/2014)