Iraq Christians Safe Once Mosul is Liberated?
ERBIL, Iraq -- Christians who fled villages near Mosul this past summer have yet to return to their homes. They joined more than a million other Iraqis who fled for Kurdistan this past summer after Islamic State fighters overran their once peaceful neighborhoods.
Though Kurdish Peshmerga fighters forced ISIS jihadiist (called Daesh in Arabic) from the Christian towns, it is not safe for the Christians to return at this time because as long as ISIS controls the Iraqi city of Mosul, they'll remain within range of mortar fire.
That's what I was told today during my interview with Hemen Hawrami, the head of the Kurdistan foreign relations office.
Hawrami said it took a while for his government to adapt the tactics necessary to fight "a terrorist organization." But now, the Kurdish Pehmerga has ISIS on the run and security in Kurdistan is stable.
One major area of northwestern Kurdistan still remains under ISIS control. Which one is it? Hawrami explains in the clip below:
And what about Mosul? Will the Pesshmerga act soon to liberate Iraq's second largest city from ISIS? Watch his answer here:
Watch for more from this articulate Kurdish government spokesman in my next blog report, including the latest information about undelivered U.S. weaponry and what the recent oil deal with Baghdad may mean for the Kurdish people.