Government allocates $134,000 for emigrants to Aqara

Ninewa-Emigrants NINEWA / IraqiNews.com: The federal government has allocated around $134,000 (150 million Iraqi dinars) to compensate the displaced persons to Aqara district, who fled to escape the armed operations in Mosul, the mayor of the district said on Monday. “The amount was divided to 209 families and each family will have $446 (around 500,000 Iraqi dinars),” Johar Ali Aziz told IraqiNews.com. Several Christian families have fled Mosul throughout the past weeks, while Iraqi security sources said that a few Christians were killed in separate incidents in the city, signaling an increase in the wave of attacks against religious communities in the northern volatile city. Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa, lies 405 km north of Baghdad. The original city of Mosul stands on the west bank of the Tigris River, opposite the ancient biblical city of Nineveh on the east bank, but the metropolitan area has now grown to encompass substantial areas on both banks, with five bridges linking the two sides. Despite having an amount of Kurdish population, it does not form part of the area controlled by the Kurdistan Regional Government Kurdistan RegionG). There are different communities in Mosul like Christians, Shiites and Kurds along with a Sunni majority. The fabric Muslin, long manufactured here, is named for this city. Another historically important product of the area is Mosul marble. The city is also a historic center for the Nestorian Christianity of the Assyrians, containing the tombs of several Old Testament prophets such as Jonah, Yunus in Arabic, and Nahum. SH (S)/SR 1