Progress on Protecting the Environment from Conflict is Long-Overdue

Nov 8, 2016 | Doug Weir
View Original

As Islamic State forces had retreated, they had opened oil pipelines, and blown-up well heads. The smoke plumes from the wells were so intense they were visible from space. By mid-October, three wells were still burning. Residents who had fled were returning to their homes, facing exposure to the noxious fallout from the fires and fumes from the spills.

It was a sign of things to come. As Iraqi and Kurdish forces advanced on Mosul, oil filled trenches and more well-heads were set alight by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Civilians fleeing or trapped in Mosul have been exposed daily to pollutants from the fires. And ISIL have not stopped at oil infrastructure, starting fires at the Mishraq sulphur plant that resulted in 1,000 people requiring medical treatment, even as fears grow that other industrial facilities in Mosul itself will be used as weapons.