Governor of the Iraqi northern Nineveh Province said thousands of displaced Christian families returned back to the country’s strategic city of Mosul ever since government forces and allied fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units fully liberated the city from the clutches of Daesh terrorists.
Nawfal Hammadi said, Sunday, more than 4,000 families have returned to the provincial capital city, some 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Baghdad.
Hammadi added most of the Christian families sought refuge in the the country's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region after Daesh terrorists overran their areas and forced them to leave.
The official pointed out there remains a small number of Christian families in Erbil and will return to Mosul once the current school year winds up.
On December 9, 2017, Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the end of military operations against Daesh terror group. 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 army took control of eastern Mosul in January 2017 after 100 days of fighting, and launched a battle to liberate the western half of the city on February 19 last year.
Daesh began its terror campaign in Iraq in 2014, taking large areas of the country.
Nine killed in militant attacks in northern, eastern Iraq
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 from Hashd al-Sha’abi, outside their base in the town of Hawijah, 45 kilometers west of Kirkuk, hours after they were kidnapped by the Takfiri militants.
Obeidi added 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 dead, including a woman and a child, killed inside the car and wounded two others.
The assailants fled the scene to nearby mountainous areas.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
