Iraq puts out fires at Qayyara oil field in northern Iraq – ministry

(Reuters) Five oil wells are still burning out of 25 that Islamic State set on fire in Qayyara, south of Mosul, an oil ministry statement said on Thursday.

State-run North Oil Company crews are working to control the fires torched by the hardline militants to slow down the advance of U.S.-backed Iraqi forces toward Mosul, their last major city stronghold in Iraq.

The oil field was one of the main sources of revenue for the group that declared in 2014 a self-styled ”caliphate” in parts of Syria and Iraq.

Islamic State used to ship at least 50 tanker truckloads a day from Qayyara and nearby Najma oilfields to neighboring Syria. A sign remains on the main road announcing prices of crude in places like the Syrian city of Aleppo, 550 km (340 miles) west of Qayyara.

“The smoke hurts our children, hurts us and, as we get older, it’s only going to cause us more problems,” Reuters quoted Sarhan Misin, 20, who works in a sweet shop just off Qayyara’s main road, as saying in a report about Qayyara in January.

Reuters quoted a doctor at the local hospital, asking not to be named for fear of reprisal by Islamic State, saying he had seen many more patients with respiratory problems in recent months, though was not able to give numbers.