Iraq has closed Mosul International Airport in its second largest city, without giving any reason as to why.
According to Reuters, all flights were grounded on Tuesday, air industry and security sources said. Flights to and from Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey and flights between the northern city and the capital were all impacted by the closure.
"Security forces closed Mosul airport without giving any reason. All flights are canceled," a source at the airport told Reuters.
During the 2003 invasion to take down Saddam Hussein, Mosul International Airport was used as a base for U.S. forces and was a focul point for the following insurgency.
Since then, security had improved, which has boosted investment, but Mosul is still known as one of Iraq's most dangerous cities. Militant groups such as al Qaeda still have a foothold in the area.
"To begin with they (the authorities) said there was information about a highjacked plane, and then they said it was closed for maintenance purposes, but there are no maintenance works," a senior security source in Mosul told Reuters.
According to the source, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ordered the airport to be closed. However there was no following comment from the Prime Minister's office. However Mosul governor Atheel al-Nujaifi had something to say. The governor constantly bumps heads with Maliki, especially when it comes to Nujaifi's support for protests by Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority against the Shi'ite-led government.
"We reject the closure of the airport which is the lungs of the city and connects it with other countries," Nujaifi told Reuters.
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