MOSUL: Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhemi on Wednesday inaugurated the reconstruction of Mosul international airport, still in disrepair five years after the battle that expelled Daesh from the city.
Entire sectors of the northern metropolis have remained in ruins since the July 2017 recapture of Mosul by Iraqi forces backed by a US-led multinational coalition.
The airport, which was heavily damaged in the battle, has been disused since the extremists seized Mosul and adjacent areas in 2014.
Kadhemi, in an official ceremony at the airport on the southern outskirts of Mosul, laid the foundation stone for its renovation.
Airport director Haider Ali told AFP that the reconstruction has been assigned to two Turkish companies and is expected to take 24 months.
Despite the slow pace of reconstruction, the city of 1.5 million inhabitants has regained a semblance of normality: shops have reopened, traffic jams are back and international agencies have been funding restoration projects for historic sites.
But huge challenges remain.
At the end of 2021, the Red Cross estimated that 35 percent of west Mosul residents and less than 15 percent in east Mosul, which bore the brunt of the fighting, have enough water to meet their daily needs.
Kadhemi, quoted in a statement issued by his office, said that “huge efforts” were being made to rebuild the city.
In January, a provincial official spoke of a $266-million budget for major reconstruction projects, notably in the health, education and transport sectors for 2021-2022, according to the state news agency INA.
Iraq launches Mosul airport reconstruction
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Iraq launches Mosul airport reconstruction
- The airport, which was heavily damaged in the battle, had been disused since the extremists seized Mosul and adjacent areas in 2014
US mediating prisoner exchange talks between Damascus and Druze: source to AFP
- The talks aim to “get the authorities to release 61 civilians from Sweida who have been detained,” held by the National Guard
- Aid trucks have entered the province several times since July
BEIRUT: The United States is leading negotiations between a prominent Druze leader and the Syrian government to secure an exchange of prisoners held since sectarian clashes in a Druze-majority Syrian province last year, a source with knowledge of the matter told AFP Tuesday.
Thousands are estimated to have been killed when clashes erupted between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin tribes in the southern Sweida province in July.
The Syrian government in the capital Damascus said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses and monitors accused them of siding with the Bedouin.
The Druze source, who requested anonymity, told AFP that “there are currently negotiations mediated by the United States between Sheikh Hikmat Al-Hijri and the Damascus government.”
The talks aim to “get the authorities to release 61 civilians from Sweida who have been detained... since the events of July, in exchange for 30 personnel of the interior and defense ministries” held by the National Guard, the armed group that operates under prominent Druze leader Hijri.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the fighting in Sweida left more than 2,000 people dead, including 789 Druze civilians who were “summarily executed by defense and interior ministry personnel.”
While a ceasefire was reached later in July, the situation remained tense and the province difficult to access.
Residents accuse Syrian authorities of imposing a siege on Sweida, which Damascus denies, and tens of thousands of people remain displaced from the violence.
Aid trucks have entered the province several times since July.
In August, dozens of small factions in Sweida announced they would join the National Guard, seeking to unify military efforts under Hijri, who is considered the Druze figure most hostile to Damascus.
Hijri has since demanded the creation of a separate region for his minority community, and has formed a de facto authority in Sweida city and its surrounding areas outside of the central government’s grasp.
Israel bombed Syria during the violence, striking the Syrian army headquarters and near the presidential palace, saying it was acting to defend the minority group.
