Public security

'Islamic State' using water as a weapon

An abundant water supply means life, but excess water or water scarcity can mean death. Grave concerns have arisen over the dams that the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) has strategically taken in northern Iraq and Syria. IS controls six of the eight large dams on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and is now continuously attacking a seventh one.

IS is specifically using the natural resource as a weapon, observes the conflict researcher Tobias von Lossow at Berlin's Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). "On one hand, IS is damming the river to retain water and dry up certain regions, thereby cutting off the water supply to villages and communities. On the other hand ,it has also flooded areas to drive away their inhabitants and to destroy their livelihoods," said von Lossow in an interview with DW.