Jolie calls on world to help rebuild Mosul
ERBIL: UN refugee agency special envoy Angelina Jolie visited Mosul, in northern Iraq, on Saturday 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 cam paign that caused 900,000 residents to flee.
The actress met families from western Mosul and walked through bombedout streets, according to video footage and photos provided by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Normality has returned to many parts of Mosul; displaced residents have left camps nearby and gone back home.
But the old city in West Mosul was largely destroyed during a campaign by a 100,000strong alliance of Iraqi government units, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shi’ite militias backed by air support from a USled coalition.
Reconstruction has been slow.
‘‘This is the worst devastation I have seen in all my years working with UNHCR. People here have lost everything,’’
Jolie said.
‘‘They are destitute. They have no medicine for their children, and many have no running water or basic services.
‘‘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.’’ — Reuters