Undersecretary Amendola, on the third day of his visit to Iraq, this morning went out to the Mosul dam, in the north, to meet Italian soldiers from the Praesidium Task Force. They are guarding the dam from terrorist attack and guaranteeing the safety of the staff of Trevi, the company awarded the work to consolidate the foundations and maintain it last year.
The dam stands a few dozen kilometres from the Mosul front, today one of the main areas involved in the conflict with Daesh.
The Undersecretary told the soldiers and staff of Trevi: “Italy continues to be very much committed to completing the repairs on the Mosul dam and, at the same time, guaranteeing the safety of the workers operating in this very delicate situation. We are aware that it is an infrastructure of great strategic importance for Iraq and are employing all our experience and competence. This is a first in the history of peace-keeping missions.
”In the afternoon, the Undersecretary visited the emergency hospital at Erbil, where the NGO Italian Emergency is operating, guaranteeing medical-surgical assistance to those injured in the conflict, 90% of whom come from the Mosul front.
Mr Amendola went on to meet Barham Salih, Deputy Secretary for the PUK, and to discuss the regional crises, the stabilisation of Iraq and the fight against terrorism and Daesh. He also met the Prime Minister of the Autonomous Regional Government of Kurdistan, Nechirwan Barzani, to discuss the strategic importance of the Mosul dam and the excellent work carried out by our soldiers in training the local forces. That training – as the military campaign continues for the liberation of the city of Mosul – is proving to be of fundamental importance. Mr Amendola confirmed Italy’s attention on the internal political situation of Iraq and his desire to see a strengthening of dialogue and cooperation between all political parties, to face up to the shared fight against Daesh terrorism, together with the international coalition to which our country belongs.
