Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Since August, ISIS jihadists have set fire to nineteen oil wells in a bid to hinder Iraqi forces advancing on Mosul.
To date, only ten have been fully doused. Day after day for months, Iraqi firefighters have braved extreme dangers to bring the burning wells under control.
Operating in dire conditions, they face relentless clouds of toxic smoke that blanket Qayyarah and the surrounding area in thick soot.
What will be the long-term health hazards and economic fallout of these burning oil fields? Iraq appears, once more, to be suffering the curse of oil.
Since August, ISIS jihadists have set fire to nineteen oil wells in a bid to hinder Iraqi forces advancing on Mosul.
To date, only ten have been fully doused. Day after day for months, Iraqi firefighters have braved extreme dangers to bring the burning wells under control.
Operating in dire conditions, they face relentless clouds of toxic smoke that blanket Qayyarah and the surrounding area in thick soot.
What will be the long-term health hazards and economic fallout of these burning oil fields? Iraq appears, once more, to be suffering the curse of oil.
