Islamic State has damaged 1000 civilian houses in eastern Mosul : official

Nineveh (IraqiNews.com) Islamic State militants caused damages to nearly 1000 houses in eastern Mosul since they took over the city in 2014 and until security forces recaptured that region, an official said Thursday.

Hossam al-Abbar, a member of the Nineveh Governorate Council, was quoted by Almaalomah website as saying that IS had damaged 1000 houses during its occupation of Mosul and through its battles with security forces seeking to liberate the city.

“The electricity and water sectors were the most affected in terms of infrastructure, besides service facilities,” he said.

Iraqi government forces recaptured eastern Mosul from Islamic State on january 24th after three months of battles. The conflict forced 191.000 civilians to flee to refugee shelters, and the United Nations had predicted at least one million people to be displaced as battles continue at the rest of the city.

Last January, Majed Shinkali, a parliament member from Nineveh, said the war in Mosul had destroyed 80% of the city’s infrastructure.

On Wednesday, parliament speaker Salim al-Jubouri urged the Iraqi federal government to urgently hold an international conference for the reconstruction of areas retaken from IS in eastern Mosul.

Also in January, the Iraqi government approved 27 U.N.-sponsored projects for the reconstruction of Mosul’s liberated areas, but has yet to set timetables for their implementation.