JumpStart International has begun clearance work in Najaf, a city about 100 miles (160 km) south of Baghdad.

We have already taken permission and advice from the offices of the Governor, the offices of Ayatollah Sustani, and the Police and local property owners to clear their buildings, which were partly or wholly demolished by the fighting in the city.

We started with two locations, but plan to grow to at least eight by September 15. Over the next two to three weeks, we will expand our program to about 20 clearance projects and 500 workers in Najaf. If we receive adequate funding, we will operate in Najaf for at least three months.

 A destroyed building with the Iman Ali Shrine in the background.

Many hotels at the edge of the old city were completely devastated by the military conflict.

A complex of 40 hotels were under development near the Shrine. Hotel owners were unable to stop the Mehdi army from taking over their hotels and using them as cover in the conflict.

The devastation of the area in the old city is extremely widespread, although the shrine itself was largely untouched.

JumpStart crews have made arrangements to start clearing the rubble at about four sites initially, but there are hundreds of buildings affected by the fighting. We plan to have about 20 sites going on simultaneously with about 500 workers, over time.