FOR months now, fighting in the Middle East has occupied world news pages, with two sites standing out – Aleppo in Syria and Mosul in Iraq.
Aleppo in the north is Syria’s largest city now held by insurgents who have been fighting the Syrian government of King Bashar al-Assad for five years now. The Syrian rebels are a motley mix of Free Syrian Army fighters with Islamic State (IS) forces and other Sunni militants. Supporting King Assad are Shiite militants and Russia.
Early last October, a truce was supposed to allow hundreds of thousands of civilians to evacuate but the truce did not last long and fighting resumed with Russian planes bombarding the city. The fighting has caused catastrophic destruction to the Old City of Aleppo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But the greater loss has been the death of thousands of civilians and fighters on both sides, with no end to the fighting in sight.
Across the Syria-Iraq border to the east lies the city of Mosul, 400 kilometers north of Baghdad. For two years now, it has been held by the Islamic State. The Iraqi government has now gathered enough strength to try to take Mosul back, with help from Kurdish militias known as Peshmerga, Shiite militias known as Popular Mobilization Units, and an international military coalition led by the United States providing air support, artillery, and special operations forces.
Mosul lies on the west bank of the Tigris River. Across the river on the east bank is the site of the ancient city of Nineveh, one of the historic cities of the Assyrians, containing the tombs of several Old Testament prophets including Jonah. His tomb was among the ancient cultural sites destroyed by the Islamic State in 2014.
In both Syria and Iraq, it must be noted, the Islamic State which aims to establish a Muslim caliphate in the world is involved. This is the same Islamic State which is supported by the Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao which has taken to copying the IS practice of beheading its captives.
Even without this link to us through the Abu Sayyaf, what is happening today in Aleppo and in Mosul is of great concern to all of us in today’s world. Because of the violence in Syria, Iraq, and other places in the Middle East today, refugees in the millions have poured out of the region and sought to start new lives in Europe.
It is not known when the violence will end in Aleppo and Mosul but we join the rest of the world in praying that it will be soon.