Baghdad hit by new dust storm

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraq's capital Baghdad was battered by another dust storm early Tuesday.

Baghdad International Airport suspended all flights on Tuesday due to bad weather, the Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority told the state-run Iraqi News Agency. 

Furthermore, Najaf Airport suspended flights for the same reason until 5 pm local time. 

On Monday, Iraq's weather authorities forecast that the dusty conditions could reduce visibility rates in Baghdad as low as 1-2 kilometers. 

The authorities said that the new storm would also engulf other parts of the country. 

The Kurdistan Region's Meteorology and Seismology Directorate expects light dusty weather in Sulaimani province, the effects of which are expected to fade away in the afternoon. 

Last week, the storm followed a dense dust storm that battered both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region and lasted for days. Hundreds of people were hospitalized, and Erbil and Sulaimani international airports temporarily suspended their flights as a direct result.

At least six patients admitted with breathing difficulties died in a hospital in Tuz Khurmatu after it ran out of oxygen due to being overwhelmed by the influx of patients affected by the extreme weather. 

In recent years, the number of such storms and other extreme weather events has increased in Iraq as the country faces more of the harsh effects of climate change, including desertification.