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Al-Majar al-Kabir Thousands of dead fish have washed ashore in southeast Iraq, prompting an official investigation into the wildlife disaster that officials said Monday may be linked to drought conditions.

An AFP photographer saw thousands of small fish washed up on the banks of the Amshan river in Majar al-Kabir, an area in Maysan province that borders Iran.

The region is home to fabled marshes in the floodplain of the Tigris river, already suffering from the effects of global warming.

Iraqs agriculture ministry on Sunday announced it was forming a committee to look into the causes of the fish deaths, according to state news agency INA.

Environmental campaigner Ahmed Saleh Neema said a rise in temperatures leading to increased evaporation, coupled with reduced water flow contributed to a lack of oxygen and high salinity in the river.

Largely arid Iraq is ranked by the United Nations as one of the worlds five countries most impacted by some effects of climate change.

It endures blistering summer heat and frequent dust storms. Declining rain over the past four years as well as upstream dams have reduced the flow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers where ancient civilisations flourished.

Khodr Abbas Salman, a Maysan province official overseeing its marshes for the Iraqi environment ministry, told AFP that according to terrain analyses we have conducted, the level of oxygen (in the water) is zero, in addition to a rise in salinity levels.

He joined a mission on Monday to inspect the deaths of tonnes of fish, he said, noting the Amshans waters are home to nine species.

The fish keep dying even now, he said.

Samples from both the fish and the water will be analysed to determine if there is any presence of chemical substances, Salman added.

But the high salinity levels may be enough to cause considerable damage.

The water can no longer be used for agriculture. It would scourge the land if farmers use it for irrigation, Salman said.

He warned of further risks of pollution in the water and surrounding lands the more animals die.

Any dead animal rots which raises the level of pollution, he said. The waters toxicity might increase and infiltrate the land too.

In a similar phenomenon in 2018, fishermen in the central province of Babylon found dead carp in their thousands, but an investigation failed to discern what had caused it.

The post Iraqs Agriculture Ministry to investigate fish deaths appeared first on Iraqi News.

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) In a staggering scene, thousands of fish floated in the Al-Ezz River in the southeastern Iraqi governorate of Maysan due to water scarcity and the high level of salinity.

Social media activists shared videos of fish deaths with angry comments about the situation in their areas because of water scarcity.

The local authorities in Maysan announced on Saturday that they had monitored the deaths of fish in the Al-Ezz River, warning of serious diseases at the same time.

An Iraqi official told Al-Arabiya News that the reason behind the deaths of fish is the significant shortage of water in the area, adding that agriculture almost disappeared during the summer season due to the same reason.

Iraq has been suffering from a severe water crisis for several years, but it reached its peak in the past two years and reached dangerous levels during the current year as many rivers, tributaries and marshes dried up.

The water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have declined to less than a meter in some areas, and people can cross rivers on foot in some other areas of Iraq.

According to the United Nations, Iraq has become one of the five countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change because of the continuous rise in temperatures and the increasing water shortages every year.

The post Thousands of dead fish in Maysan shock Iraqis appeared first on Iraqi News.