Iraq: IS Long Gone, but Former Iraqi Oil Hub Still Dead

Dec 11, 2017 | Agence France-Presse
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A white rocking horse and a child's toy car lie abandoned on a dusty lane in the Iraqi city of Baiji, a small sign of the ruin that can be seen all around. Two years after the jihadists of Islamic State group were forced from this one-time industrial hub, Baiji remains a devastated ghost city as pledges of funds to help rebuild life have failed to materialise. Home to what was once Iraq's biggest oil refinery, its rubble-strewn streets are lined by the twisted carcasses of buildings, and in 2016 it was declared a disaster zone by the national parliament.