Mosul (AsiaNews) – Two Christian religious buildings in Mosul (northern Iraq) were attacked today. Bombs were detonated in two separate but similar attacks: one against an Armenian-Catholic church, the other against the Chaldean Bishop's Palace.

At 2:30 pm local time (GMT +3), some men entered the Armenian Catholic church in the Wihda neighbourhood on the eastern part of the city. The attackers forced out a security guard and two other people who were there and then, according to eye witnesses, set off two bombs.

Around 4:30 pm, a group of four or five armed men stormed the Chaldean Bishop's Palace (see photo) which is on the right bank of the Tigris River.

Only Fr Raghid Aziz Kara was inside since Bishop Paul Faraj Rahho was away on pastoral duties. He told AsiaNews that after the attackers ordered him to leave the premises, they proceeded to lay and then detonate explosive devices. He heard three explosions and saw the building engulfed in flames.

The Bishop's Palace in Mosul is a modern, two-storey building, inaugurated in 1995 by Mgr Georgis Garmo, Bishop Rahho's predecessor. The nearby Church of the Purification, which Muslims also venerate because of its famous statue of Our Lady, was untouched.

Police immediately started looking for the attackers but so far with no results.

The Chaldean Catholic diocese of Mosul is led by Bishop Paulos Faraj Rahho and has 35,000 members. It has 12 parishes, 22 diocesan priests, 8 men and 20 women religious. (LF)