Major victory against IS

The Iraq government has scored a major victory in its war against the Islamic State (IS). It has wrested back control over Mosul, its second largest city, which has been in the IS grip since 2014. The victory did not come easily; it took Iraqi military backed by the US-led coalition forces over nine months to dislodge the IS from Mosul. Additionally, the anti-IS coalition appears to have eliminated terror group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. While he has been reported dead several times in the past, multiple sources, including the Russian and Iranian governments as well as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, are confirming his death. This is a double blow to the IS. The fall of Mosul, its ‘crown jewel’, is a huge setback for the IS. It was from the pulpit of the al-Nuri mosque here that Baghdadi declared himself the leader of a ‘Caliphate’ straddling Iraq and Syria. Mosul has not only lost its last urban stronghold in Iraq but also it no longer has any significant presence in Iraq.

Militarily, defeating the IS or eliminating its dreaded chief aren’t enough. It is important that conditions conducive for the IS return are not created. It was the exclusion of Sunnis from political and economic power structures in post-Saddam Iraq that contributed to the rise of Sunni extremism. The IS was able to take control of Mosul, for instance, because its appeals struck a chord with the city’s marginalised Sunnis and Baghdadi was able to project himself as their protector. The Shia-majority Iraq must avoid repeating those mistakes. It needs to build an inclusive society to comprehensively defeat the IS. The task is now political.

Mosul is in ruins. Relentless bombing has reduced much of the city to rubble. Billions of dollars will be needed to rebuild this war-ravaged city’s physical infrastructure. As people begin returning home, there will be need for food, clean water and jobs, which the Iraqi government may not be in a position to provide. The international community will therefore need to support Mosul’s reconstruction in terms of not only financial resources but also in ways that will contribute to a sustainable peace. In rebuilding Mosul, priority must be given to local needs over the interests of donor governments. The aim must be to build local capacity and empower the Iraqi people rather than to benefit foreign companies and contractors. Importantly, the Iraqi government must reach out to Sunnis and Kurds to ensure they are equal partners in and beneficiaries of Mosul’s reconstruction. Driving out the IS from Mosul was the easy part. The more challenging task of building peace lies ahead.