ERBIL, Kurdistan Region— Public buses and cabs resumed operations between Erbil and Mosul last week for the first time in more than 2 years since the militants took control of large parts of the Nineveh Plains in mid- 2014.
Transportation busses and taxis hesitantly started to provide services again for travellers in January, but the relative security in eastern neighborhoods of Mosul, which are now fully under army control, has encouraged drivers in the Kurdish capital to establish a permanent traffic line to Mosul and its surrounding townships.
Over 40 neighborhoods in Mosul’s eastern suburbs have been retaken by the Iraqi army since the operation started in mid-October last year. And many refugees living in Kurdistan Region have decided to return to Mosul as the army is struggling to enter the more densely populated central parts of the city.
But the traffic is slow as nearly a dozen checkpoints rigorously monitor the movement of cars moving from and to Mosul.
“I never imagined that I would be back in my city so soon,” said Batoola who took refuge in Erbil over two years ago. “It was difficult to be away from our family but we won’t forget the hospitality of people in Erbil for the past two years,” Batoola told Rudaw as she finally arrived in Mosul.
Over half a million people from Mosul are still believed to be displaced across the Kurdish territories whose return could still depend on the outcome of the Mosul operation, now well into its fourth month.
Kurdish officials have said the liberation of Mosul and the return of the displaced people could have positive impact on the state of the recovering Kurdish economy.
