The Portal August 2016 | Page 20

THE P RTAL August 2016 Page 20 Aid to the Church in Need Iraq: Daesh (ISIS) left, destruction remains Mark von Riedemann and Clare Creegan of ACN report It is the silence that you notice first. Not just a lack of noise but an absence of sound. Even the birds have left. I am in Telskuf, Iraq, about 20 miles (32 km) north of the Daesh (ISIS) stronghold of Mosul and just over a mile (2 km) from the front line. The town is abandoned; its inhabitants, including approximately 12,000 Christian