Damage in Mosul worse than expected, will take years to repair - U.N.

Record ID: 898114

  • Title: Damage in Mosul worse than expected, will take years to repair - U.N.
  • Date: 5th July 2017
  • Summary: UNDP CALENDAR ON DESK
  • Embargoed: 19th July 2017 17:55
  • Keywords: Mosul offensive government troops retake Islamic State fighting damage
  • Location: ERBIL, IRAQ
  • City: ERBIL, IRAQ
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Insurgencies
  • Reuters ID: LVA0026OFZMMF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A U.S.-backed Iraqi offensive against Islamic State nearly completely destroyed six districts in western Mosul, and getting basic infrastructure across the city running again will cost more than $1 billion, a senior U.N. official said on Wednesday (July 5).
    Iraqi commanders have predicted final victory in Mosul this week after a grinding eight-month assault on the once two-million-strong city which has pushed Islamic State into a rectangle no more than 300 by 500 metres beside the Tigris.
    But the fighting, involving air strikes, artillery, and Islamic State car bombs, has left Mosul a shattered shell of its former self and displaced around half of its pre-war population.
    United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq, Lise Grande, told Reuters the level of damage had exceeded predictions and was much worse in the western half of the city than it had been in the eastern half.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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