Iraq weighs risk to Mosul Dam in anti- ISIS fight
Bafhdad, Feb. 10: The risk of Iraq’s largest dam collapsing and unleashing a huge wave onto Mosul is affecting plans to retake the city from jihadists, an adviser to the Premier’s office said.
The Iraqi Army is deploying thousands of soldiers to a northern base in preparation for operations to recapture the city, the largest urban centre in the Islamic State ( ISIS) group’s self- proclaimed caliphate.
Concern has grown that a failure of the unstable dam, which is about 40 kilometres northwest of the city, could wipe out most of Mosul and flood large parts of Baghdad.
The Americans “frequently refer to Katrina” and say a collapse of the Mosul Dam would be “a thousand times worse”, the adviser to the office of Prime Minister Haider al- Abadi told reporters.
Hurricane Katrina ravaged the US city of New Orleans in 2005, killing nearly 2,000 people and leading to a wave of violence and looting that completely overwhelmed the authorities.
“If the dam busts, the centre of Mosul goes under water by about a 40- 50 feet wave,” the adviser said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“It just disappears, so 500,000 people ( are) killed within a few hours,” he said.
Concern has grown that a failure of the unstable dam could wipe out most of Mosul and flood large parts of Baghdad
He said another dam in Samarra, hundreds of miles downstream, would also burst. It is estimated the wave would still be several metres high when it reaches Baghdad.
A US assessment published on the Iraqi Parliament’s website on Monday said Mosul Dam was “at a signficantly higher risk of failure than originally understood.”
Several high- level contacts have taken place between the US administration and Baghdad, with Washington pushing for repair work to be undertaken urgently.
Since the dam’s completion in 1984, Iraq has sought to shore up the foundation by injecting mortar- like grout into cavities that develop under the structure.
Regular minor seismic activity in the dam area is now seen as a potential threat.
“If the attack on Mosul goes well, there is a nightmare scenario that Daesh ( an Arabic acronym for IS) could itself strike the dam as they withdraw from Mosul,” the adviser said.