Residents and some businessmen in West Mosul have begun reconstructing the second largest city in Iraq after nine months of fighting.
They cleared rubble from the streets just as they began repair works on essential services like power lines and sewage system.
With the city back in government’s hands, hundreds of people have been heading back to their homes.
But the lack of basic services has deterred many others from returning. A member of Nineveh province’s sewage council said 80 percent of the city’s sewage system was damaged in the fighting, with little prospect of support and funding to fix it.
“The economic situation of citizens is now bad, there is no work, the stores are destroyed. If the stores on this street and the Dawasah area reopen, life will return to normal in this street. Even services, the government must then come and repair them,” a Mosul resident said.
Homemade bombs and explosives have been left by Islamic State (ISIS) in Mosul’s houses, schools, mosques and streets, although security forces cleared areas before letting residents back.
By targeting civilians, ISIS hopes to thwart a stabilization effort aiming to get people back to their homes, jobs and studies, rebuild infrastructure and reinstate government rule.
