Iraq president says scale of Mosul destruction ‘horrendous’

AMMAN, Jordan – Iraq’s president says the scale of destruction in Mosul is “horrendous” and that his country will need help from investors and international donors to rebuild its second-largest city.

Iraqi troops backed by a U.S.-led coalition have been advancing in Mosul since the fall, pushing back Islamic State extremists who overran the city in 2014.

President Fuad Masum told reporters in Jordan on Friday that it’s too early to put a price tag on reconstruction, but that “the destruction in Mosul is horrendous.”

Masum, a veteran Kurdish politician, also seemed to express reservations about efforts in Iraq’s autonomous northern Kurdish region to hold an independence referendum.

Masum says that “Iraq is stronger in its unity” and that it “will be an important country after getting rid” of the Islamic State group.