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)
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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.



One Killed in Israeli Drone Strike in South Lebanon

Lebanese security forces set up a checkpoint on the road leading to the scene of an Israeli airstrike in Baawerta (Baaouerta), near the coastal town of Damour, about 20 kilometres south of Beirut, on April 22, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
Lebanese security forces set up a checkpoint on the road leading to the scene of an Israeli airstrike in Baawerta (Baaouerta), near the coastal town of Damour, about 20 kilometres south of Beirut, on April 22, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
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One Killed in Israeli Drone Strike in South Lebanon

Lebanese security forces set up a checkpoint on the road leading to the scene of an Israeli airstrike in Baawerta (Baaouerta), near the coastal town of Damour, about 20 kilometres south of Beirut, on April 22, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)
Lebanese security forces set up a checkpoint on the road leading to the scene of an Israeli airstrike in Baawerta (Baaouerta), near the coastal town of Damour, about 20 kilometres south of Beirut, on April 22, 2025. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP)

An Israeli drone strike on a Lebanese border town on Sunday killed one person, Lebanon's health ministry said.

The ministry reported in a statement "one martyr" from "the drone strike launched by the Israeli enemy on the town of Halta,” in southern Lebanon.

Local media said the man was killed while working on his chicken farm.

Israel has continued to carry out regular strikes in Lebanon despite the November truce that sought to halt more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah, including two months of all-out war.

A pair of Israeli strikes on Tuesday killed a leader of Jamaa Islamiya in Baawerta, on the coast south of Beirut, and one person who Israel said was a local Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon's Tyre district.