.IRAQ: Facing threats, local doctors flee Mosul
MOSUL, 1 May (IRIN) - Scores of doctors have fled the northern city of Mosul, some 360km north of Baghdad, after receiving a series of death threats, according to one provincial official.
"The number of threats increases daily," said Nineva Provincial Council head Salim al-Haj Essa. "This has forced 66 doctors to leave the city within the last three months." Nine others, he added, had been killed by unknown attackers.
The threats, which local doctors began receiving early this year, have persuaded scores of doctors to flee the city, with many seeking refuge in areas of the Kurdistan region or in neighbouring countries.
"A threatening letter was posted on my front door demanding $50,000 – otherwise my head would be chopped off," said one female doctor in Mosul, speaking anonymously. "I told the governor's office, but they said they couldn't do anything. Now I'm thinking of fleeing to Erbil as soon as my children finish their final exams."
Essa blamed the threats on local criminal gangs who have exploited the atmosphere of instability and deteriorating security to kidnap doctors – considered relatively well-paid – for ransom money. "We managed to arrest a few of the gang members, but discovered that the head of one of these networks worked as a hospital guard," said Essa, adding that the practice would persist until Iraqi authorities, and not US forces, take charge of national security.
According to Essa, the doctors' exodus has also had a noticeable impact on public health. "There's a real lack of doctors, so patients – especially victims of terrorist attacks – receive shabby treatment," he said.
Compared to other Iraqi cities, Mosul was relatively quiet in the medium-term aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion of the country. This has changed in recent months, however, as foreign fighters and other insurgents have reportedly come to the city in order to escape military operations elsewhere in Iraq or after crossing over from Syria.
Reuters
I wonder if there is not really a connection between this series of stories and TT's last post. I know he denied any connection, even went so far as to state: "Any way me and my close colleagues are still on he safe side" Whatever that meant?
"The number of threats increases daily," said Nineva Provincial Council head Salim al-Haj Essa. "This has forced 66 doctors to leave the city within the last three months." Nine others, he added, had been killed by unknown attackers.
The threats, which local doctors began receiving early this year, have persuaded scores of doctors to flee the city, with many seeking refuge in areas of the Kurdistan region or in neighbouring countries.
"A threatening letter was posted on my front door demanding $50,000 – otherwise my head would be chopped off," said one female doctor in Mosul, speaking anonymously. "I told the governor's office, but they said they couldn't do anything. Now I'm thinking of fleeing to Erbil as soon as my children finish their final exams."
Essa blamed the threats on local criminal gangs who have exploited the atmosphere of instability and deteriorating security to kidnap doctors – considered relatively well-paid – for ransom money. "We managed to arrest a few of the gang members, but discovered that the head of one of these networks worked as a hospital guard," said Essa, adding that the practice would persist until Iraqi authorities, and not US forces, take charge of national security.
According to Essa, the doctors' exodus has also had a noticeable impact on public health. "There's a real lack of doctors, so patients – especially victims of terrorist attacks – receive shabby treatment," he said.
Compared to other Iraqi cities, Mosul was relatively quiet in the medium-term aftermath of the 2003 US-led invasion of the country. This has changed in recent months, however, as foreign fighters and other insurgents have reportedly come to the city in order to escape military operations elsewhere in Iraq or after crossing over from Syria.
Reuters
I wonder if there is not really a connection between this series of stories and TT's last post. I know he denied any connection, even went so far as to state: "Any way me and my close colleagues are still on he safe side" Whatever that meant?
posted by madtom at 6:33 PM
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