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Iraq needs $88.2 billion to rebuild in wake of war against ISIS, minister says

Hammadi Abdullah, 32, and his family sit outside their hut in an encampment outside Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 12, 2018.
Hadi Mizban/AP

February 14, 2018, 7:20 PM

 -- It will take a staggering $88.2 billion to rebuild parts of Iraq devastated by the war against ISIS, according to the country's minister of planning.

During an international donors conference in Kuwait regarding Iraq reconstruction, Salman Al-Jameeli said in a statement Tuesday that "$22.9 billion [is] needed for Iraq in the short term, [and] $65.4 billion over the medium term."

The funds would go to the vast swaths of Iraqi territories seized by ISIS during the jihadist group's brutal conquest that started in June 2014, the minister said.

PHOTO: Homeless Iraqi people push their belongings through the rubble of al-Rashid military base belonging to the former Iraqi army in Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 12, 2018. — Homeless Iraqi people push their belongings through the rubble of al-Rashid military base belonging to the former Iraqi army in Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 12, 2018. Kuwait this week is hosting a series of conferences on rebuilding Iraq after the onslaught of the Islamic State group.
Hadi Mizban/AP

Umm Hassan holds her son as she works in her open air kitchen outside her hut in an encampment for the displaced, outside Baghdad, Iraq, Feb. 12, 2018.
Hadi Mizban/AP

Seven governorates across Iraq -- including Ninawa, which encompasses the county's second-largest city of Mosul -- suffered about $46 billion in total damages. In addition, Iraq's security sector sustained $14 billion in total damages, while Iraqi banks lost $10 billion in cash assets, according to the minister.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who attended the donors conference, did not offer any new direct aid pledges to Iraq. But, he announced a $3 billion financial package from the Export–Import Bank of the United States, which includes loan guarantees and insurance to spur American investment in Iraq.

Iraq special forces conduct an operation targeting possible remaining Islamic State (IS) group jihadists in the Wadi Shabjah area, south of holy Shiite city of Najaf , on the border with Saudi Arabia, Feb. 12, 2018.
Haider Hamdanihaidar/AFP/Getty Images

An Iraqi woman inspects the destruction in the old city district in the western part of Mosul city, Iraq, Feb. 3, 2018.
Murtaja Lateef/EPA/Rex/Shutterstock

An Iraqi man inspects the destruction at the old city area, in the west side of Mosul city, Iraq, Feb. 2, 2018.
Murtaja Lateef/EPA/REX/Shutterstock

Pictures from ISIS' last stand in Mosul

Slideshow of images in the final days of the ISIS occupation of Mosul in Iraq.

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AP photographer Felipe Dana has been covering what is believed to be the final push to clear ISIS fighters out of the city of Mosul where the U.N. estimates over 870,000 people have already been forced from their homes.<br><br>Smoke billows over the Old City after several strikes as Iraqi forces continue their advance against Islamic State militants in Mosul, Iraq, July 3, 2017.

Felipe Dana/AP

Tillerson also urged members of the international coalition battling ISIS to help rebuild Iraq.

"As we celebrate these victories over extremism and hatred, we know they were hard-won, and they came at a very high price. Much work remains to rebuild Iraq and modernize its economy," Tillerson said in remarks made at the conference Tuesday. "Everyone in this room has an opportunity to help set Iraq on a new course and contribute to its long-term development success."

An official with the U.S. Department of State told ABC News the conference was "never intended to be a pledging conference, but rather the initial roll-out on behalf of the Iraqi government."

Civilians who had remained in west Mosul during the battle to retake the city, lined up for an aid distribution in the Mamun neighborhood in Iraq July 2017.
Ivor Prickett/Reuters

An unidentified young boy, who was carried out of the last ISIS controlled area in the Old City by a man suspected of being a militant, that is cared for by Iraqi Special Forces soldiers in Mosul, Iraq, July 12, 2017.
Ivor Prickett/NY Times/EPA/Rex/Shutterstock

Volunteers brave ISIS battle in Mosul to save injured civilians

Photos show the growing humanitarian crisis in Mosul.

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Thousands of civilians are trapped in the old city of Mosul and struggling to survive without food, water and access to medical care. <br> <br>A team from Global Response Management provide emergency medical care at a stabilization point near the Old City, July 2, 2017, in Mosul, Iraq.

Carol Guzy/ZUMAPRESS.com via Newscom

In October 2016, Iraqi forces as well as Kurdish forces, known as peshmerga, launched a massive operation to liberate Mosul from ISIS control. The fight affected densely populated neighborhoods within the war-torn city and had displaced nearly 192,000 people by March 2017, according to the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over ISIS in December 2017. By the end of the year, while 3.2 million people had returned to their homes, another 2.6 million remained displaced in Iraq, according to the United Nations migration agency.

Offensive to retake Mosul from ISIS highlights quiet efforts to save animals, cultural artifacts in war zones

Animals rescued from Mosul's abandoned zoo arrive safely in Jordan

ISIS destroys Mosul's historic Great Mosque of al-Nuri and leaning minaret, Iraqi officials say

ABC News' Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.