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Archive for the ‘Iraq’ Category

ISIS: Waging A ‘Water War’ In Southern Iraq

Via Business Insider, a report on how the IS ‘water war’ is drying out marshes in Southern Iraq: In the 1990s, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein drained the marshes of southern Iraq in order to punish the indigenous Shi’ite tribes that opposed him after the first Gulf War. The desiccation of the marshes destroyed wildlife and the […]

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ISIS Closes Iraq Dam Gates, Sparking Humanitarian Fears

Via Terra Daily, a report on ISIS’ use of water as a weapon: Islamic State group jihadists have closed the gates of a dam in the Iraqi city of Ramadi which they seized last month, posing a humanitarian and security threat, officials said Tuesday. IS fighters have repeatedly attempted to control dams in Iraq, in […]

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Iraqi Diyala Residents Face ISIS ‘Water War’

Via Al Arabiya, a sobering report on ISIS’ latest effort to utilize water as a weapon of war: An Iraqi official warned on Saturday of a “humanitarian disaster” after Islamist militants diverted Al-Roz River away from Bildoz district in the eastern province of Diyala, affecting thousands of people in what he described as a “water […]

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Amid Terror Attacks, Iraq Faces Water Crisis

Via National Geographic, a report on how the Islamic State’s assault on dams and water systems threatens Iraq’s supply, which was already squeezed by dams in Turkey and Iran: Peshmerga soldiers stand guard at the Mosul Dam in northern Iraq on August 21, 2014. The Kurdish militia and other Iraqi fighters recaptured the dam from […]

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Mideast Water Wars: In Iraq, A Battle For Control Of Water

Courtesy of Yale’s Environment360, a look at how conflicts over water have long haunted the Middle East but, in the current fighting in Iraq, the major dams on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are seen not just as strategic targets but as powerful weapons of war: There is a water war going on in the […]

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Islamic State Militants Threaten Turkey If Euphrates Water Supply Not Restored

Via RT, a report on the Islamist militant group ISIS’ threats to Turkey over water supplies: The Haditha Dam Islamic State militants have directly threatened Turkey with violence as they swore to “liberate” Istanbul in order to reopen a dam on the Euphrates River. Water flow to parts of Syria and Iraq is at a […]

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