Iraq PM says Mosul airport to open in June

This handout picture released by Iraq’s Prime Minister’s Media Office shows PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani meeting with the US Secretary of State in Baghdad on December 13, 2024. (Photo by IRAQI PRIME MINISTER’S PRESS OFFICE / AFP)

Baghdad, Iraq — Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Sunday ordered for the inauguration of the airport in second city Mosul to be held in June, marking 11 years since jihadists took over the city.

On June 10, 2014, the Islamic State group seized Mosul, declaring its “caliphate” from there 19 days later after capturing large swathes of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.

After years of fierce battles, Iraqi forces backed by a US-led international coalition dislodged the group from Mosul in July 2017, before declaring its defeat across the country at the end of that year.

READ: Rockets target base hosting US troops near Baghdad airport – sources

In a Sunday statement, Sudani’s office said the premier directed during a visit there “for the airport’s opening to be on June 10, coinciding with the anniversary of Mosul’s occupation, as a message of defiance in the face of terrorism”.

Over 80 percent of the airport’s runway and terminals have been completed, according to the statement.

Mosul’s airport had been completely destroyed in the fighting.

In August 2022, then-prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi laid the foundation stone for the airport’s reconstruction.

Sudani’s office also announced on Sunday the launch of a project to rehabilitate the western bank of the Tigris in Mosul, affirming that “Iraq is secure and stable and on the right path”.