War on Daesh destroyed 150,000 homes in Iraq

Iraq’s war on Daesh destroyed more than 150,000 homes, Planning Minister Salman Al-Jumaili said yesterday.

In a statement reported by the Anadolu Agency, Al-Jumaili said that his country needs $88 billion to rebuild the different sectors destroyed by the war.

In February, international donors pledged $30 billion for reconstruction programmes in Iraq.

Daesh took over large swathes of the country after the US invasion of the oil rich state in 2003 left it lacking security. One third of the country was claimed by Daesh by 2014.

Read: Daesh militants blow up oil pipeline north of Iraq

“The size of investment in the five-year plan for the period from 2018 to 2022- will be $186 billion,” Al-Jumaili said, stating that $40 billion would be aimed at the private sector.

“The Housing sector is the most affected as more than 150,000 housing units were completely or partially destroyed. Rebuilding them was estimated to cost more than $15 billion,” he explained.

As a result of the war on Daesh up to 5.8 million Iraqis were displaced, according to the International Migration Organisation. About three million returned home and the others are still housed in refugee camps across the country.