The water purification plants in Mosul supply water for the city and surrounding areas. After taking control of Mosul on June 10, ISIS severely limited the water supply from al-Rashidiya and al-Slamiya water projects, which provide the Northern and Southern Nineveh Plain with potable water (AINA 2014-06-27, 2014-06-18). According to a report by the Hammurabi Human Rights Organization, ISIS is allowing only about 90 minutes of pumping per day.The Assyrian towns of Baghdede, Karemlis, Bartella, Tel Kepe, Batnaya and Bashiqah — home to nearly 200,000 Assyrians — face severe water shortages.Residents have begun digging wells to secure water, but are limited by a lack of funding.The towns of Baghdede, Karemlis and Bartella, with a population of 70,000 Assyrians, require more than 20 Artesian wells to supply the water needs of the residents. Each well typically costs about $30,000 to install, with operating crews and generators. $600,000 is required to install these wells.
Jihadists who overran Mosul last month have demolished ancient shrines and mosques in and around the historic northern Iraqi city, residents and social media posts said Saturday. At least four shrines to Sunni Arab or Sufi figures have been demolished, while six Shiite mosques, or husseiniyahs, have also been destroyed, across militant-held parts of northern Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital. Pictures posted on the Internet by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) showed the Sunni and Sufi shrines were demolished by bulldozers, while the Shiite mosques and shrines were all destroyed by explosives. The photographs were part of an online statement titled “Demolishing shrines and idols in the state of Nineveh.” Local residents confirmed that the buildings had been destroyed and that militants had occupied two cathedrals as well. An employee at Mosul’s Chaldean cathedral said militants had occupied both it and the Syrian Orthodox cathedral in the city after finding them empty. They removed the crosses at the front of the buildings and replaced them with the Islamic State’s black flag, the employee said.