Video editing: Sarkawt Mohammed | Rudaw English
MOSUL, Iraq – Two years after the end of the military campaign to retake the city from the Islamic State group, the streets of Mosul remain littered with rubble.
The 850-year-old al-Nuri mosque was blown up by IS fighters as they fled and is still in disrepair.
One resident living in West Mosul, Abu Ashraf, expressed his disappointment at the government.
“There are still dead bodies of families and Daeshis under the rubble,” he said, “it is a failed government from head-to-toe.”
The historic part of Mosul was the last area to be liberated from the Islamic State group.
It was the battlefield for intense fighting between the Iraqi security forces supported by the international coalition and IS militants.
Over 300,000 local residents were displaced, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council – one-fifth of Iraq’s displaced population.
Some reconstruction has gone ahead, with the NRC repairing and rebuilding houses in the city and efforts from the EU and the UN towards Mosul’s reconstruction.
The NRC estimates that 138,000 houses were destroyed or damaged.
Four of the main bridges that connect the west and the east of the city are still out of service.
In East Mosul, residents have begun to gather for evening activities.
Student, Mahmoud Mohammed, said it is a sign of change and, “the mentality of the Mosulian individuals.”
In 2014, IS militants took control over the city of Mosul until its campaign ended on July 10, 2017.
The 850-year-old al-Nuri mosque was blown up by IS fighters as they fled and is still in disrepair.
One resident living in West Mosul, Abu Ashraf, expressed his disappointment at the government.
“There are still dead bodies of families and Daeshis under the rubble,” he said, “it is a failed government from head-to-toe.”
The historic part of Mosul was the last area to be liberated from the Islamic State group.
It was the battlefield for intense fighting between the Iraqi security forces supported by the international coalition and IS militants.
Over 300,000 local residents were displaced, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council – one-fifth of Iraq’s displaced population.
Some reconstruction has gone ahead, with the NRC repairing and rebuilding houses in the city and efforts from the EU and the UN towards Mosul’s reconstruction.
The NRC estimates that 138,000 houses were destroyed or damaged.
Four of the main bridges that connect the west and the east of the city are still out of service.
In East Mosul, residents have begun to gather for evening activities.
Student, Mahmoud Mohammed, said it is a sign of change and, “the mentality of the Mosulian individuals.”
In 2014, IS militants took control over the city of Mosul until its campaign ended on July 10, 2017.
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