Baghdad: A United Nations report finds that the ongoing battle for the city of Ramadi has damaged or destroyed more than 4,500 buildings.
The findings, gathered comparing satellite imagery of the city collected in July 2014 to imagery collected in December, reveal that nearly 1,500 buildings have been completely destroyed, the report published yesterday said.
The Islamic State group overran Ramadi, capital of Anbar province, in May after months of clashes with Iraqi government forces. Last month government forces retook the city's western and central districts under cover of heavy coalition air bombardment.
Lise Grande, the UN's deputy special representative to Iraq, says the extent of the damage raises concerns about reconstruction, calling the destruction in Ramadi "incomparable" to destruction in other Iraqi cities taken back from Islamic States.
