Fallujah's slow restoration begins amid massive cleanup


Iraq, August 11, 2016


FALLUJAH –

The battle in Fallujah against the Islamic State (ISIS) ended nearly two months ago but the city still lies in ruin, with destroyed buildings, bullet holes and even the charcoal remains of vehicles burnt on the roadside. It is clear that the city is still feeling the destructive weight of war.

Restoration work, however, has proved to be a slow and painful process.

Since Fallujah was recaptured by the Iraqi government, military forces have been focused on tearing down explosives factories. It is now the Iraqi government’s main mission to clear all the remaining explosives and tear down all these factories.

"The present mission is to clear the explosives. We have already detonated 12,000 pieces of explosives and torn down 48 bomb factories,” said Saad Ali al-Harbiya, commander of operations west of Baghdad.

For now, a quarter of the cleanup work in the city of Fallujah has already been completed, according to Harbiya.

The bombs that were produced from these factories were used frequently by ISIS to resist external attacks, but explosives were not the only unsettling things found by military forces.

Nearby the Euphrates River, military forces found cages used by the extremists to execute criminals. The criminals were often put into the cages and submerged in water.

Currently 20 engineering technicians are working on reconstructing the bridge across the Euphrates River. The bridge is connected to the Ramadi Bridge located in its provincial capital of Anbar Province and is expected to be restored by the end of August.


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(Reuters)