France’s Macron visits Iraq’s Mosul destroyed by IS war

By HADI MIZBAN and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA
Associated Press

MOSUL, Iraq (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting Iraq’s northern city of Mosul, which suffered widespread destruction during the war to defeat the Islamic State group in 2017. He vowed Sunday to fight alongside regional governments against terrorism. Macron began his visit to Mosul by touring the Our Lady of the Hour Church, a Catholic church that was badly damaged during the rule of IS that lasted from 2014 until the extremists’ defeat three years later. Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, became IS’s bureaucratic and financial backbone. It took a ferocious nine-month battle to finally free the city in July 2017.