Progress Seen In Mosul

Source Article HERE.

From 'MNFI': The Soldiers of 5th Battalion, 7th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division, visited students at the Al Sahaba School for a good-neighbor mission in Mosul, Iraq on November 5th. The Mosul neighborhood around the school has gone through a great amount of change over the last few years. “This neighborhood used to be a very bad neighborhood,” said Col. Salah Adeziz, executive officer, 7th Bde., 2nd IA Division. “A lot of vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices and terrorists were here.”

Progress has been seen with the citizens of Mosul, because the citizens are now helping out and calling the Iraqi Security force when they see terrorist activities. “We’ve built a relationship between us and the civilians here,” Salah said. “All the civilians now make good relationships with us. They warn us about any terrorists that come here and it’s very, very safe now. We came here and you see, nothing happened to us, so the relationship is working.”

The IA colonel had a positive attitude and showed great confidence about Mosul and the current progress. “I think from now on it will be good, because we are working with the civilians, said Salah. “We were working on the boundaries and now we are working inside Mosul... Believe me, the civilians in Mosul are very, very good people,” Salah said. “All the problems came from outside of Mosul, outside the boundary of Iraq.”

Mosul is in a difficult situation, different from some other areas of Iraq. The communities of Mosul have a large variety of diversity. Communities contain Kurdish, Arab, Turkish and other nationalities all living together. “I am from Mosul and I am Sunni,” Salah said. “My neighbor is Kurdish. In 2003, my neighbor protected my family. When problems started for the Kurdish in Mosul, I protected his family. We are brothers, eating from the same dish and working together. I know where the problems come from.”

After all Mosul’s past troubles Salah was certain of success and a peaceful future for his city. “I have a message to all the world, all of Iraq is working together,” Salah said. “Almost 90 percent of the terrorists have been caught. There is nothing that will make us stop working with our people. All are shaking hands and helping each other.”