Church bell inaugurated in Mosul

Mosul, Iraq: A bell was inaugurated at a church in Mosul on Saturday to the cheers of Iraqi Christians, seven years after the Islamic State group overran the northern city.

Dozens of faithful stood by as Father Pios Affas rang the newly installed bell for the first time at the Syriac Christian church of Mar Tuma, an AFP correspondent reported. It drew applause and ululations from the crowd, before prayers were held.

"After seven years of silence, the bell of Mar Tuma rang for the first time on the right bank of Mosul," Affas told them.