Islamic State closes the Fallujah Dam floodgates and diverts water over an irrigation channel into a side valley, inundating land up to 100km away and placing parts of the city of Abu Ghraib under up to four meters of water. More than 10,000 houses and 200 square kilometers of farmland are flooded and extensive livestock killed. Water for millions of people in the cities of Karbala, Najaf, and Babil is cut off for a time.
In Iraq, Islamic State blocks access to water in the predominantly Christian town of Qaraqosh (also known as Bakhdida), take over farms and agricultural land, and expel most of the 50,000 residents.
Islamic State deliberately contaminates drinking water with crude oil in the Balad district of the Salahaddin Governorate. Poisoned water supplies are also reported from Aleppo, Deir ez Zor, Raqqa, and Baghdad.
Following the capture of Ramadi Dam, the Islamic State cuts water for irrigation systems and treatment plants in the predominantly Shiite downstream provinces of Babil, Karbala, Najaf and Qadisiya, threatening Iraqi food production.
During the US-led invasion of Iraq, water systems are reportedly damaged or destroyed by different parties, and major dams are military objectives of the US forces. Damage directly attributable to the war includes vast segments of the water distribution system and the Baghdad water system, damaged by a missile.
Russian Federation forces bomb the al-Khafsa water treatment facility in the city of Aleppo, reportedly mistaking it for an oil production facility. The treatment plant draws water from the Euphrates River and is called “one of the most important in Syria, producing an average of 18 million litres of drinking water daily.” According to UNICEF, “The bombing caused severe damage and cut off piped water supplies on which approximately 3.5 million people depend.” Water pumping operations have since been partially…
Attacks on Syrian electricity transmission stations cut power needed for water pumping to the eastern and western parts of Damascus. Authorities temporarily restore power five days later, but new fighting again cuts water to the city.
Islamic State fighters cut electricity to pumping stations and destroy a pipeline that provides water for eastern Mosul, Iraq, leaving more than half a million people without water. The group has intentionally cut off water supplies to various neighborhoods, according to a Mosul City Council official responsible for supervising the city’s water and energy services.
Insurgents bomb a main water pipeline in Baghdad. City engineers say this is the first strike against Baghdad’s water system during the Iraq War, which began in March 2003. The bombing occurs around seven in the morning, when a blue Volkswagen Passat stops on an overpass near the Nidaa mosque and an explosive is fired at the six-foot-wide water main in the northern part of Baghdad, said Hayder Muhammad, the chief engineer for the city’s water treatment plants.
Tens of thousands fall ill from contaminated drinking water in Basra, Iraq. In response, citizen unrest escalates and protests turn violent, leaving at least 15 dead and hundreds injured.