Actress Jolie calls for global support to rebuild Mosul

ERBIL ( Iraq): United Nations refugee agency special envoy Angelina Jolie visited Mosul in northern Iraq and urged the international community not to forget residents trying to rebuild their city.

Iraqi forces seized Mosul in July 2017 from Islamic State militants, who had occupied the city three years earlier and turned it into a stronghold of a “caliphate”, in a military campaign that saw 900,000 residents flee.

The Hollywood actress met families from western Mosul and walked through bombed out streets, according to video footage and photos provided by the UNHigh Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Normality has returned to many parts of Mosul, with displaced residents leaving camps nearby and going back home.

“This is the worst devastation I have seen in all my years working with UNHCR. People here have lost everything,” Jolie said in a UN statement.

“They are destitute. They have no medicine for their children, and many have no running water or basic services,” she said.

“I hope there will be a continued commitment to rebuilding and stabilising the whole of the city. And I call on the international community not to forget Mosul.”

Jolie has worked for UNHCR since 2001, visiting uprooted civilians from Iraq to Cambodia and Kenya. It is her fifth visit to Iraq, UNHCR said. — Reuters

A touching meeting: Jolie interacting with Falak, eight, during a visit to West Mosul. Falak has a gene disorder and PTSD – she spoke to Jolie about seeing a man killed in front of her during the IS group occupation of the city. Less than a year after...