15 October 2008, 15:10
Iraqi government deploys troops in Mosul to protect Armenians
The Iraqi government has brought troops into the city of Mosul for defending local Armenians after armed Sunnite extremists attacked them, killing the owner of the shop of musical instruments and injuring his nephew.
The "Caucasian Knot" has already informed that late at night on October 12, in the Iraqi city of Mosul, businessman Farkes Batul, an Armenian by origin and owner of the shop selling musical instruments, was killed.
The Armenian MFA has reported that 40 Armenian families of Mosul were taken under guard, the "Gazeta.Ru" reports.
According to the ITAR-TASS, Ali ad-Dabbag, an official spokesman of the Iraqi cabinet, has stated that the country's government had assessed the situation in Mosul as "grave" and decided to undertake the necessary steps to restore legality and public order there. The families who had to abandon their houses, by different estimates, they are from several hundreds to two thousand, will receive food and financial help.
Let us note here that the "Asparez" newspaper published by US Diaspora has given data, according to which the Christian community of Iraq is under threat. According to the newspaper, in the recent days the city of Mosul, where the Armenian community lives, was flooded by a wave of violence. Armed extremists expel Christians from their houses, kill owners of shops and stores, the paper writes.
According to official data, in recent days, from 7 to 14 persons were lost. Over 1300 Christian families have left their houses in Mosul and now hide at their relatives in adjacent villages. The "Asparez" remarks that, in the opinion of Mosul Christians, the aim of this sort of aggressive actions is complete exile of Christians from Mosul.
