CWN - Archbishop Emil Shimoun Nona, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Mosul, has fled Iraq’s 2nd-largest city after its seizure by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, a jihadist group active in Iraq and Syria.
“Jihadist militants control the city and the situation is calm,” he told the Fides news agency. “But we do not know who they are and what they want to do now.”
“What I can say,” he added, “is that what has happened is a mystery. It is not known how soldiers and police managed to leave the city in less than an hour, leaving weapons and means of transport. All this raises many questions.”
Archbishop Nona said that he and his priests have found shelter in villages. One Mosul church, “depredated by gangs of robbers ... while the city was captured,” is now being protected by Mosul Muslims, he added.
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