BAGHDAD - Hundreds of terrified Christian families have fled Mosul to escape extremist attacks that have increased despite months of U.S. and Iraqi military operations to secure the northern Iraqi city, political and religious officials said Saturday. Some 3,000 Christians have fled the city over the past week alone in a "major displacement," said Duraid Mohammed Kashmoula, the governor of northern Iraq's Ninevah province. City of Mosul
The old city of Mosul is on the west bank of the Tigris River. It is a maze of narrow alleyways filled with mud-brick homes and drab mosques. The majority of the city's Arab residents live on the west bank, and U.S. forces rarely enter the area because their armored vehicles cannot fit. Kurdish officials say that has made the western quarter a haven for Baathists and Islamic militants, who launched last month's rebellion from the old city.Once a key trading post on the fabled Silk Road, Mosul linked Persia to the Syrian capital of Damascus and to ports along the Mediterranean. Like many great cities, Mosul straddles a river. It is a cosmopolitan city made up of Sunni Arabs, Kurds, Turkomen, Assyrian Christians and Yazidis.
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