Dozens of families return to areas recaptured from IS in Anbar
Iraqi refugees
Anbar (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi families continue to return to their home regions in Anbar after their liberation from Islamic State militants, officials were quoted saying Tuesday.
Alsumaria News quoted Hussein Ali, mayor of Rawa, saying that a number of families began returning to Rawa, west of Anbar, the last city Iraqi forces recaptured from Islamic State.
He said the families were thoroughly vetted by security authorities.
Meanwhile, more than 170 families returned to homes at Hit and Obaidi areas, also west of the province.
Mazen Khaled, an advisor to Anbar governor, told Baghdad Today that 172 families were returned home to Hit and Obaidi from refugee camps in the province.
Recently, the International Organization for Migration said 1.3 million Iraqis had been repatriated to their home regions, driving the total since Islamic State militants’ emergence in 2014 up to 2.4 million.
Suleiman al-Jumaili, Iraq’s planning minister, said Sunday that Iraq has suffered destruction from the war against IS that is worth USD47 million.
Kuwait is hosting an international conference for Iraq’s reconstruction in February, gathering world donors eager to contribute to rehabilitate the country.
Iraq’s war against Islamic State militants, who occupied large parts of the country in 2014 to proclaim an Islamic “caliphate”, has displaced nearly five million people, according to United Nations figures. Those were both displaced internally or forced to flee to refugee camps abroad.
Refugees have reportedly endured difficult living conditions inside camps due to food and medicine shortages, as well as bad weather conditions.
Iraq declared final victory over the militant group earlier this month, currently working to clear remnant cells at liberated areas.