Quarter of Iraq's Al-Qaim ‘totally destroyed’: Official

By Suleiman al-Qubeisi

ANBAR, Iraq

At least 25 percent of Iraq’s Al-Qaim district, which the army recently recaptured from the Daesh terrorist group, has been “totally destroyed”, a local official said Thursday.

"After Al-Qaim was retaken from Daesh last month, local government officials tried to estimate the damage sustained by the district,” Nazem al-Bardan, head of Al-Qaim’s municipal council, told Anadolu Agency.

"They put the destruction at some 25 percent of Al-Qaim owing to recent military operations [by the Iraqi army] and terrorist attacks,” al-Bardan said.

The district’s power infrastructure had been rendered almost completely inoperable, he added, while the local government’s ability to function had been degraded by some 90 percent.

“Water and sewage infrastructure has also sustained considerable damage due to recent military operations and terrorist attacks,” al-Bardan said.

"Meanwhile, residential areas in the district center -- and in many surrounding areas -- have also sustained significant damage," he added.

Al-Bardan urged the central government in Baghdad and international aid organizations to help rebuild the war-damaged district as soon as possible, “especially in terms of vital service infrastructure”.

Located in Iraq’s western Anbar province roughly 350 kilometers west of regional capital Ramadi, Al-Qaim had remained under Daesh control since mid-2014, when the terrorist group overran vast swathes of territory in northern and western Iraq.

Al-Qaim was finally recaptured by the Iraqi army late last month following a weeks-long campaign.