Iraq: Iraq’s Charred Olive Groves - Another Ruinous Legacy of Islamic State

Dec 13, 2018 | Tom Westcott, Middle East Eye
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Before the Islamic State (IS) group seized control of the rural town in mid-2014, its olive-loving locals had not imported the fruit for decades, relying entirely on produce from their own olive groves, which amply supplied the town and outlying villages. One of the first things IS militants did when they seized control of Tal Afar in June 2014 was to set olive groves and orchards ablaze, destroying a thriving local industry which had taken decades to nurture.