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IN PICTURES: Chasing ISIS through the flower gardens of Mosul

30-11-2016

15 Photos

Ayub Nuri

MOSUL, Iraq – On Tuesday Iraqi soldiers attacked ISIS militants in the al-Zuhur neighborhood of Mosul. It was a tough house to house battle. The soldiers had to secure one house before moving on to the next and they had to watch out for sniper fire or car bombs that could come at them at any moment.

In Arabic al-Zuhur means flowers and almost every house in this neighborhood had a flower garden. ISIS militants had cut through the walls that separated these homes and retreated further into the city by going from one house to another unseen. They had walked through these gardens. The rubble from breaking the walls still lay there.

There were people in some homes who nervously opened their doors to greet the Iraqi army, but many other homes were deserted though their flowers and plants well-maintained.