Iraq’s troubled finances slow efforts to rebuild Ramadi
Strain on Iraq's budget from falling oil prices is delaying the removal of Islamic State explosives in Ramadi and the restoration of basic services needed for displaced civilians to return to the western city. The army declared victory in December over Islamic State (IS) after elite counter-terrorism forces seized the Anbar provincial capital's main government […]Strain on Iraq's budget from falling oil prices is delaying the removal of Islamic State explosives in Ramadi and the restoration of basic services needed for displaced civilians to return to the western city.
The army declared victory in December over Islamic State (IS) after elite counter-terrorism forces seized the Anbar provincial capital's main government building. On Tuesday those forces reclaimed strategic territory linking the city to a major army base nearby. The recapture of Ramadi was the first major gain for the U.S.-trained army since it collapsed in the face of an assault by the ultra-hardline Sunni militants in 2014. Its recovery boosted Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in his quest to oust IS from Mosul, northern Iraq's biggest city, later this year.
