A general view of the Mosul Dam Lake north of Mosul, Iraq, May 2, 2018. REUTERS/Khalid Al-Mousily
TAL ABU AL-DHAHER, Iraq (Reuters) - One day in June, a giant irrigation pump deep in the Mosul Dam Lake sputtered briefly into life. The successful test brought a rare moment of celebration for the facility's supervisor, Assem Abdel Rahman, and his small team of engineers from Iraq's Water Resources Ministry.
The pump had lain idle since 2014, when Islamic State fighters swept into Nineveh, then a lush province capable of producing almost a quarter of Iraq's wheat. When Iraqi forces and their allies drove out the militants three years later, the pump was out of action and the irrigation canals it supplied were in ruins. That June test showed there was hope for the pump, at least.
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