In Ruins, the New Old City of Mosul
The Old City of Mosul was the last redoubt for Islamic State fighters trying to hold onto the capital of the so-called ISIS caliphate in Iraq. The relentless U.S. and coalition air campaign that was waged to help dislodge them left the area almost completely destroyed. Now, more than a year after the fighting stopped, the […]Victor J. Blue writes for Bloomberg:
The Old City of Mosul was the last redoubt for Islamic State fighters trying to hold onto the capital of the so-called ISIS caliphate in Iraq. The relentless U.S. and coalition air campaign that was waged to help dislodge them left the area almost completely destroyed. Now, more than a year after the fighting stopped, the city still lies in ruins.
The United Nations estimates that more than 8,000 homes were destroyed or damaged in the Old City. The city was left with an estimated eight million tons of conflict debris. The U.S.-led coalition conducted around 2,500 airstrikes on the city of Mosul during the campaign, with as many as 600 munitions dropped per week. In January and February 2017 alone, the coalition released more than 7,000 bombs over Mosul.
But there has been precious little effort to rebuild the city. Residents complain of inattention and corruption from Iraqi officials. Foreign nongovernmental organizations have made little headway. Residents live in damaged or destroyed homes and try to scrape together money for repairs. While thousands remain displaced in camps, some Old City residents have made their way back to try to build lives amid the destruction. They reopen businesses, try to rebuild, or scavenge for scrap among destroyed buildings. Some structures had stood for more than 700 years before the relentless fighting brought them down, and it’s unclear how much of the Old City will ever return.
