Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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It used to take Ahmad Meyssar just a few minutes to reach his university across a bridge over the river Tigris in Iraq's Mosul.
But now -- with whole districts still devastated some five months after the Islamic State group was forced out -- the journey takes him over two hours as most of the vital links between the two halves of the city remain in ruins.
"To be sure of being on time for the start of lessons at university at eight in the morning," the 20-year-old student says he sets off "at around 5:30 or six".
Across the Nineveh region where Iraq's second-largest city is located, some "90 percent" of the 70 bridges have been totally or partially destroyed, said Marwan Abderrazaq from the local roads department.
Some of Mosul's bridges were blown up by IS jihadists as they faced a nine-month Iraqi onslaught, while others were destroyed by government forces and the firepower of a US-led coalition backing them up.
They have been reduced to pillars jutting out of the waters of the Tigris or collapsed into piles of concrete.
Crossing the river a major challenge in devastated Mosul | Daily Mail Online
There are two temporary bridges that have been built and another three on the way.
But now -- with whole districts still devastated some five months after the Islamic State group was forced out -- the journey takes him over two hours as most of the vital links between the two halves of the city remain in ruins.
"To be sure of being on time for the start of lessons at university at eight in the morning," the 20-year-old student says he sets off "at around 5:30 or six".
Across the Nineveh region where Iraq's second-largest city is located, some "90 percent" of the 70 bridges have been totally or partially destroyed, said Marwan Abderrazaq from the local roads department.
Some of Mosul's bridges were blown up by IS jihadists as they faced a nine-month Iraqi onslaught, while others were destroyed by government forces and the firepower of a US-led coalition backing them up.
They have been reduced to pillars jutting out of the waters of the Tigris or collapsed into piles of concrete.
Crossing the river a major challenge in devastated Mosul | Daily Mail Online
There are two temporary bridges that have been built and another three on the way.