Baghdad partially opens the Green Zone, the most protected area in Iraq

Mon, 10 Dec 2018 15:45:47

Baghdad

Iraq officially opened the heavily fortified Green Zone in downtown Baghdad on Monday, coinciding with the anniversary of the victory over an extremist militant group.
The Green Zone is the common name of Baghdad's international neighborhood, established by the US-led coalition forces after the overthrowof Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The region is one of the most militarized sites in Iraq, including government and military headquarters, the US Embassy, Governmental and foreign countries.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi has announced on several occasions his intention to open the Green Zone, in reference to the improvement of the security situation.
The partial conquest of the Green Zone coincides with the celebration of the defeat of the Dahesh organization, which controlled more than a third of the country's territory in 2014, and made the city of Mosul akin to its capital, before the Iraqi forces could defeat it on December 10, 2017.
President Barham Saleh said in a tweet through his account on Twitter today that Iraq has achieved "military victory at great prices, what we must achieve the final victory by political victory, social and cultural ends by the factors and environment of the emergence of violence and terrorism crime."
The anniversary comes at a time when the country is still in the middle of a political crisis, awaiting the completion of the government formation, and facing several challenges, most notably the reconstruction of the affected areas and the return of displaced people.

alrassid.org