How Water Is Being Used As A Weapon By The Islamic State

Key dams along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Wikimedia Commons/Yale Environment 360

Islamic State Jihadists Are Using Water As A Weapon In Iraq -- Washington Post

BAGHDAD — The Islamic State militants who have rampaged across northern Iraq are increasingly using water as a weapon, cutting off supplies to villages resisting their rule and pressing to expand their control over the country’s water infrastructure.

The threat from the jihadists is so critical that U.S. forces are bombing the militants close to both the Mosul and Haditha dams — Iraq’s largest — on a near-daily basis. But the radical Islamists continue to menace both facilities, clashing on Tuesday with Iraqi troops near the Haditha dam.

The Sunni militants want to seize the dams to bolster their claim they are building an actual state. They have already taken over large swaths of Iraq and Syria, and, as part of their latest offensive, have been besieging the Syrian town of Kobani in an effort to secure another piece of the country’s border with Turkey. The U.S.-led coalition on Tuesday escalated its airstrikes around Kobane, blunting the assailants’ offensive.

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My Comment: Water and electricity is the lifeblood for any community .... the Islamic State is learning that lesson to their benefit.