Daesh uses water and dams as a weapon during war as strategic importance of water increases in crucial times, according to a hydropolitics expert Tugba Evrim Maden.
Some dams in Syria and Iraq have been under the control of Deash from time to time, Maden told Anadolu Agency on Thursday.
'With control over the dams, Daesh restricts access to water or opens the gates to cause a flood in order to hinder soldiers from approaching,' she said and added, 'Dams and water sources can become a target as well as a weapon during terror and war periods.'
The strategic Tishrin Dam, one of the many dams under Daesh control and located on the Euphrates, has been captured by a U.S.-backed alliance of Syrian Kurds and Arab rebel groups on Dec. 27. The dam was under the control of Daesh since 2014.
Oil pipelines bring economic profit to terror organizations who control them and 'although water sources do not have an economic return like oil pipelines, it still affects the people living in occupied lands and gives strategic power to their holders,' she said.
'Water sources are scarce in the region and even in stable times water is important in governmental relations because water is important as a drinking source, irrigation and energy generation,' Maden said.
When water sources are under the control of terror organizations, they have power over the quality of water and timing of the water flow, Maden underlined.
'The impact is felt on the quality of life and people's economic earnings through farming as irrigation depends on continuous water flow,' she stressed.
By Zeynep Beyza Kilic
Anadolu Agency
zeynep.karabay@aa.com.tr