‘Nearly a year after Mosul in Iraq was declared “liberated” from ISIS terrorists, UNHCR envoy Angelina Jolie said the stench of dead bodies buried under the rubble was still present, amid the “worst devastation” she has ever seen.
“There are bodies in this rubble that stay here and you can smell the bodies and some of them have family members that are here and they are unable to move them,” the Hollywood superstar and Special Envoy for the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said, after exploring a part of Mosul that was recaptured last year with the US-led coalition’s active support.
Even though this was Jolie’s fifth trip to Iraq, the horrific destruction she witnessed in the Old City this time really broke her heart. Walking around the narrow streets of the city center, completely destroyed by artillery and airstrikes, the 43-year-old Oscar winner called it the “worst devastation” she saw in her 17 years representing the UNHCR across the globe.
“This is the worst devastation I have seen in all my years with UNHCR. These people have lost everything and the trauma and the loss they have suffered is unparalleled,” Jolie said.’