CHINAEUROPE AFRICAASIA 中文双语Français
World\Middle East

Iraq reopens hot springs spa amid Mosul war chaos

Updated: 2017-04-05 17:08

Iraq reopens hot springs spa amid Mosul war chaos

An Iraqi boy bathes at a sulfur pond at Hammam al-Alil city south of Mosul, Iraq on April 3, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] 

HAMMAM AL-ALIL, Iraq - Some Iraqis in this town get massages in a spa or take muddy baths and relax in the morning sun on the banks of the Tigris. Others beg for food or rise at dawn to queue for water.

Hammam al-Alil, a town south of Mosul once famous throughout Iraq for its healing hot waters, is back in business after a US-backed offensive retook the area from Islamic State militants and authorities reopened its spa.

This oasis of leisure now coexists, however, with camps housing more than 30,000 of the people displaced in the region by the campaign to dislodge Islamic State from Mosul, its the last major city stronghold in Iraq.

"I come here three times a week," said 47-year old Ali Qader, a retired soldier, after showering with water from a natural spring. "It's refreshing and good for your skin."

Residents have been flocking back since Islamic State was expelled from the town in early November, ending the days when bathers had to wear a tunic covering them from knee to navel as part of the Sunni Muslim movement's strict modesty code.

"If you had only swimwear, Daesh (Islamic State) would whip you," said Wael Abdullah, 12, before diving into a pool.

"The hisbah came checking that everyone had the right dress," he said, referring to the religious police that monitored everything from men's beards to women's veils.

Across the street is an indoor pool where locals and soldiers taking a day off from the front get a soapy massage.

The spa used to be magnet for wellness tourists and rheumatism patients but had passed its heyday even before the Islamist militants arrived in 2014.

"We used to have visitors from Baghdad, the south and even the Gulf, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia," said Latif Mohammed, who was hired to help run the spa for 10,000 Iraqi dinars ($8.58) a day. "It was built in the '80s but needs refurbishing."

The elegant hotels at the spa are now shuttered or bombed out because Islamic State fighters used to live there. A machine gun nest at the entrance shatters any sense of normality.

On Monday, the spa opened only at noon due to rumours of an Islamic State attack, said a federal police officer.

Previous Page 1 2 Next Page

BACK TO THE TOP
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US