Mosul, Iraq, May 6, 2010 / 00:48 am
After a recent bomb blast and gun attack in Iraq that targeted Christian students, a local bishop has criticized the government for failing to protect Christians, who are suffering from a series of violent attacks by terrorist groups.
Archbishop Georges Casmoussa, the Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) on Wednesday that the Christian community is “angry” following the recent attacks, and that local authorities “are too busy holding meetings” to get much of anything done.
On Sunday, a bomb targeted a convoy of buses carrying Christian students between checkpoints on the edge of Mosul. One male student died instantly and two young women are said to be in critical condition. The bishop gave his remarks to ACN following a trip to the local hospital, where he visited 163 of the individuals injured in the attack. Fifteen students, said the prelate, will have to be transferred to a hospital in Turkey.
“We feel angry about what happened – and we are full of sadness for those who have suffered so much,” Archbishop Casmoussa said. “We feel there is no central power here. The authorities are too busy holding meetings and not enough is being done.”