Four years after liberation, Mosul's destroyed churches lie in ruins

MOSUL, Iraq - Days before the fourth anniversary of the defeat of the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq on December 10, 2017, churches still lie in ruins across the Nineveh Plains.

Emad Sabri, who lives in Al-Shifa district near Mosul's Old City, is sad to see that calls for the renovation of the Al Tahira Church where his family and ancestors before him used to visit have so-far gone unanswered.

"We used to pray at this church. Our family were destroyed when Daesh [ISIS] came. We were displaced," Sabri told Rudaw, mourning the destruction of the church under ISIS. "I hope this church will be renovated by philanthropists. With the help of God, I hope everyone will return to Mosul including those who have fled abroad."

The extremist group first swept through Iraq in 2014, capturing cities across northern and central Iraq, including Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city and the capital of Nineveh province, where the group declared its so-called caliphate.

ISIS destroyed more than 30 churches in Mosul and 40 across the Nineveh Plains.

Most Christians fled to the Kurdistan Region as the terror group advanced.

Mosul was severely damaged and some neighborhoods were all but demolished during an offensive by Iraqi, Kurdish, and global coalition forces to retake the city. Control was finally taken from the terrorist group in the summer of 2017.

More than 1.5 million Christians lived in Iraq before 2003. Only 350,000 remain, according to figures provided by Chaldean bishop Najib Mikhael and MP Klara Odisho Yaqub.