Death and ruin: Losses ending the presence of ISIS in Syria and Iraq

Shaima Hafezy

The war against ISIS in the countries where the terrorist organization had colonized has inflicted heavy losses, including the destruction of infrastructure and the collapse of services, in addition to civilian casualties.

In Syria and Iraq in particular, the total destruction of the living environment in the liberated areas has been devastating, making the return of health, population and administrative services to those areas a difficult target for the foreseeable future. This means that the economic activity of these areas will continue to decline, adversely affecting the ability of the government to meet the living needs of its remaining residents or those who return.

According to a study by the Al-Ahram Center for Strategic and Political Studies, among the problems faced by the liberated areas is the refusal of many residents to return to their homes, fearing pockets of ISIS that could resume activity again in the absence of state security in most of those areas.

A state of ambiguity also surrounds the reconstruction of liberated areas. It is a complex process at a time when donors are accused of not taking serious steps to contribute to the reconstruction effort as long as the government’s path to security and stability in the areas restored from ISIS is not clear. Meanwhile, the reconstruction projects of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the UN in Anbar province are insufficient to address the extent of the city’s total destruction.

Apart from the material losses suffered by these countries, the campaign to eliminate ISIS has claimed the lives of thousands of civilians. The US-led coalition said at the end of May that more than 1,300 civilians had been “inadvertently killed” in raids in Syria and Iraq since the start of operations in 2014.

In its statement, the international coalition said that it had launched 34,502 strikes between August 2014 and the end of April 2019. During this period, the Joint Task Force assessed that it is likely at least 1,302 civilians were accidentally killed as a result of coalition strikes, with another 111 reports still being looked at.

Meanwhile, human rights organizations estimate the number of civilian deaths caused by coalition strikes to be much more than recognized.

The international coalition has renewed its determination to deprive ISIS of control over any geographical area and any influence in the region, and to deprive it of the resources it needs to reappear.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that more than 3,800 civilians, including about 1,000 children, have been killed in raids by the international coalition in Syria alone.

The international coalition stresses that it is taking the necessary measures to reduce risks to the lives of civilians.

The coalition – which includes more than 70 countries – began its military operations against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in the summer of 2014.