The US military has once again raised concerns over the possibility of a collapse of the Mosul dam, in Northern Iraq.
U.S. Army Lieutenant, General Sean MacFarland, said on Thursday that they have been working with the Iraqi government on a plan to protect the civilians from the impact of a collapse, which would send a surge of water down the heavily populated Tigris river valley.
“The likelihood of the dam collapsing is something we are trying to determine right now … all we know is when it goes, it’s going to go fast and that’s bad,” MacFarland, head of the U.S.-led coalition forces bombing the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, told reporters in Baghdad.
He warned that the potential collapse of the dam would be “catastrophic” as a huge number of people may be affected.
After the fall of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city in North of the country, the Islamic State (IS) jihadists took control of the dam; but Kurdish Peshmerga forces later managed to recapture the strategic dam and they are now in control of the area.
According to Reuters, An Italian Company, the Trevi Group, is finalising a contract with Baghdad to upgrade the 3.6-km (2.2-mile) long dam, which has suffered from structural flaws since it was built in the 1980s.
basnews.com
