Dec. 02, 2014 | 12:10 AM
Water-borne disease plagues ISIS-held city of Mosul
A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on December 02, 2014, on page 9.
Republican Hospital
Mosul General Hospital
Umm Mohammad
Abu Ali
When ISIS fighters swept into northern Iraq's second city Mosul in a lightning June offensive, their propaganda trumpeted a better life for the people under jihadi rule.
Nearly six months later, residents are suffering from a lack of clean water and also a shortage of medicine to treat illnesses caused by it.
One resident of east Mosul whose wife became ill because of contaminated water said by telephone that the "disruption of the water treatment stations" had led to sickness among many people.
At Mosul General Hospital, one doctor said the facility had admitted 15 people infected by contaminated water in just 24 hours – and there are nine other hospitals in the city.
Umm Mohammad, a resident of west Mosul who brought her 10-year-old son to Republican Hospital for treatment, said: "There is a major shortage of medicine needed to treat these sick people.