Iraq Launches Mosul Airport Reconstruction

A handout image released by the press office of Iraqi Prime Minister on its Facebook page on August 10, 2022 shows Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi (R) during the laying of the foundation stone ceremony of the Mosul International Airport rehabilitation project. (Iraqi Prime Minster’s Office Facebook Page / AFP)
A handout image released by the press office of Iraqi Prime Minister on its Facebook page on August 10, 2022 shows Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi (R) during the laying of the foundation stone ceremony of the Mosul International Airport rehabilitation project. (Iraqi Prime Minster’s Office Facebook Page / AFP)
TT

Iraq Launches Mosul Airport Reconstruction

A handout image released by the press office of Iraqi Prime Minister on its Facebook page on August 10, 2022 shows Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi (R) during the laying of the foundation stone ceremony of the Mosul International Airport rehabilitation project. (Iraqi Prime Minster’s Office Facebook Page / AFP)
A handout image released by the press office of Iraqi Prime Minister on its Facebook page on August 10, 2022 shows Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi (R) during the laying of the foundation stone ceremony of the Mosul International Airport rehabilitation project. (Iraqi Prime Minster’s Office Facebook Page / AFP)

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi on Wednesday inaugurated the reconstruction of Mosul international airport, still in disrepair five years after the battle that expelled the ISIS group from the city.

Entire sectors of the northern metropolis have remained in ruins since the July 2017 recapture of Mosul by Iraqi forces backed by a US-led multinational coalition.

The airport, which was heavily damaged in the battle, has been disused since the extremists seized Mosul and adjacent areas in 2014.

Kadhimi, in an official ceremony at the airport on the southern outskirts of Mosul, laid the foundation stone for its renovation.

Airport director Haider Ali told AFP that the reconstruction has been assigned to two Turkish companies and is expected to take 24 months.

Despite the slow pace of reconstruction, the city of 1.5 million inhabitants has regained a semblance of normality: shops have reopened, traffic jams are back and international agencies have been funding restoration projects for historic sites.

But huge challenges remain.

At the end of 2021, the Red Cross estimated that 35 percent of west Mosul residents and less than 15 percent in east Mosul, which bore the brunt of the fighting, have enough water to meet their daily needs.

Kadhimi, quoted in a statement issued by his office, said that "huge efforts" were being made to rebuild the city.

In January, a provincial official spoke of a $266-million budget for major reconstruction projects, notably in the health, education and transport sectors for 2021-2022, according to the state news agency INA.



Sudan Army Says Khartoum State ‘Completely Free’ of RSF

Sudanese women sell vegetables at an open market in the East Nile district of Khartoum on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
Sudanese women sell vegetables at an open market in the East Nile district of Khartoum on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
TT

Sudan Army Says Khartoum State ‘Completely Free’ of RSF

Sudanese women sell vegetables at an open market in the East Nile district of Khartoum on May 19, 2025. (AFP)
Sudanese women sell vegetables at an open market in the East Nile district of Khartoum on May 19, 2025. (AFP)

Sudan’s military on Tuesday said it took full control of the Greater Khartoum region after a long-running battle against remnants of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in the region’s west and south. 

The development was the latest victory for the military in its more than two years of fighting against the RSF, a civil war that has pushed parts of the country into famine. 

Brig. Gen. Nabil Abdullah, a spokesman for the Sudanese military, said forces retook the Greater Khartoum region, which include the capital city of Khartoum and its sister cities of Omdurman and Khartoum North, or Bahri. 

“Khartoum state is completely free of rebels,” he declared in a video statement, referring to the RSF. 

Earlier, Abdullah said troops battled RSF fighters in the western and southern areas of Omdurman as part of a large-scale operation to kick the paramilitaries out of their pockets there. 

There was no immediate comment from the RSF. 

Sudan plunged into civil war on April 15, 2023, when simmering tensions between the military and the RSF exploded into open warfare in Khartoum and other parts of the country. The war has killed at least 24,000 people, though the number is likely far higher. 

The war has driven about 13 million people from their homes, including 4 million who crossed into neighboring countries. Parts of Sudan have been pushed into famine. 

The fighting has been marked by atrocities including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in Darfur, according to the UN and international rights groups.