Aftermath: Returning to the ruins of Mosul’ Old City

December 2018

Seventy-five-year-old Kasim Hussein took a long puff of his cigarette as he stood beside the shattered walls of his once-beautiful home.“Every day we saw people dying,” he recalled of life under Islamic State control in the ancient quarter of Mosul in northern Iraq. “Around 100 people were executed every day. If you smoked cigarettes, they would cut your fingers. If your trousers were long, they put you in jail for one month.”

During the battle to liberate the city from ISIS, Kasim’s home was hit by an airstrike in the summer of 2017, forcing him and his family to flee to the liberated eastern side of Mosul. “I think the Americans missed their target,” he said, referring to the strike that destroyed his house. “The house next to mine was being used as an ISIS bomb factory.”

In the final weeks of the offensive, Iraqi forces advanced from all sides, closing in on militants in the city’s historic centre and the last remaining pocket of ISIS-held territory. The Old City’s narrow streets restricted access to Humvees and other military vehicles, forcing Iraqi soldiers to fight in close quarters, largely on foot and supported by air power. As traumatised and malnourished civilians fled across the frontlines, US-led coalition airstrikes targeted ISIS fighters hiding among civilian homes, leaving large sections of the Old City in ruins.

In July 2017, Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, declared victory over ISIS in Mosul. With the fighting over, the city began the long and difficult process of rebuilding its infrastructure and restoring shattered livelihoods. Displaced families slowly returned to what remained of their homes, determined to reconstruct their lives in the aftermath of ISIS rule.

In the heart of the Old City, the iconic Al-Nuri Mosque lay in ruins, surrounded by streets reduced to rubble and debris. The stench of decomposing bodies lingered in the air — a haunting reminder of the thousands still buried beneath the collapsed buildings.

The war against ISIS had been won, but the struggle to rebuild the city — and recover from the trauma, loss, and devastation of the conflict — continues.

Kasim Hussein stands outside the remains of his home in the Old City of Mosul, where he has lived all his life. Having fought in the Iran Iraq war, Kasim says he has never seen violence like he saw while living under Islamic State control. “They (ISIS) were executing people for any reason,” he said.

The view from inside Kasim’s destroyed home, which was hit by an airstrike during the final phase of the battle to oust Islamic State from Mosul’s historic centre.

With smoking forbidden under ISIS, Kasim made his own cigarettes from tea and vine leaves. He now smokes around 100 cigarettes per day. He also enjoys drinking alcohol. “I was drinking when ISIS was here,” he said, describing how he secretly made whisky and arak from dates.

The ruins of Mosul’s Old City, which was heavily bombed in the battle to retake the city from Islamic State control.

Kasim stands outside his house.

Kasim lights a cigarette outside his home.

Kasim sits with friends outside an abandoned building in Mosul’s Old City. Since the end of the battle against ISIS, he has been tasked with guarding the destroyed shops and warehouses of his neighbours, spending his days keeping watch over the buildings left behind.

Kasim keeps the keys to the shops and warehouses he has been entrusted to guard.

Kassim stands inside what remains of his home.

Dead bodies are gathered outside the ruins of a home in Al-Midan neighbourhood of western Mosul.

Mossul resident Sawsan and her daughter walk towards their house in the Old City. In February 2018, Sawsan and her family returned after being temporarily displaced during the final phase of the battle against ISIS. With improvised explosive devices and the bodies of victims still buried beneath the surrounding rubble, the decision to return was a risky one, fraught with danger and memories of a harrowing time.

Nuhad Hamdoon (left), her daughter Sawsan, and Sawsan’s husband Taha Younis stand with their children in the basement of the family’s home in the Old City of Mosul. During the final phase of the battle for Mosul, eleven members of the family spent seven months living in the basement taking cover from the airstrikes that left most of their neighbourhood in ruins.

Three-days-old Amina is held by her grandmother Sawsan in their home in the old quarter of Mosul.

Mosul resident Abdulkhaliq stands amongst the ruins of his home inside the Old City of Mosul. His house was hit by an airstrike in April 2017.

The ruins of Mosul’s Old City and the Great Mosque of al-Nuri, which was blown up by ISIS militants.

Father of five Safwan stands inside his home in the Old City of Mosul, which was damaged during the battle for liberation. “Living here was hell,” he explained, referring to the years he and his family lived in Mosul under ISIS occupation. “They (ISIS) killed everyone. They destroyed everything.”

He and his family fled their home in July 2017 during the final phase of the battle to retake the city’s historic centre. “ISIS was very close to us so we left the house and walked to Al Nuri mosque because the Iraqi Army was there,” he said. “We thought we were going to die anyway if we stay or leave, so we decided to leave.”

Safwan returned to his home in February 2018 to begin making repairs so he can bring his family back.

Safwan breaks down while recalling life under ISIS in Mosul.

A green sign is seen painted on the walls of houses, meaning ‘done’ in Arabic. During ISIS occupation, militants would raid homes in search of televisions and any communication devices, confiscating them in order to prevent people from being connected to the outside world. After they had completed the raid, militants would paint the sign on the outside wall of each home.

A father and son walk past damaged buildings in the Old City of Mosul.

Father of six Radwan, 42, reopened his tea shop near the Grand Mosque of Al-Nuri in Mosul’s historic centre in 2018.

During ISIS occupation, Radwan allowed people to smoke cigarettes in a hidden part of his shop. When ISIS militants found out, he was beaten and threatened with execution, and was subsequently forced to close his shop.

Radwan’s son Mohammed helps his father at his tea shop in the old city of Mosul. Mohammed, 12, left school for three years during ISIS occupation of the city. He cannot read or write and and his father can’t afford to pay for the transportation to take him to school.

In the future he hopes to become a police officer because he’s afraid ISIS will come back. He says he wants to fight against them and take revenge for his cousins who were killed by ISIS militants. Two of his cousins were beheaded and one was thrown from a high building.

Forty-three-year-old Majdi Hameed locks the door of his home in the Old City of Mosul. Majdi returned to his damaged home in September 2018. He is one of the first Christians to return to the city’s historic centre. “I love Mosul so much,” he says, “I don’t want to go to Europe or anywhere else, I just want to stay in Mosul. That’s why I returned back.”

A cross is painted on a bullet-pocked wall inside Majdi’s damaged home in the Old City of Mosul.

Majdi stands in an empty, burnt room inside his home in the Old City of Mosul. “This house used to be so beautiful,” he said. “Now I’m trying to work on it.”

Majdi sits on his bed inside his home in the heart of Mosul’s historic quarter.

Iraqi children play on a swing set up outside an abandoned building in the Old City of Mosul in June 2018 during the first Eid al-Fitr holiday since the city was liberated.

Children ride horses along the banks of the Tigris river in East Mosul during the first Eid al-Fitr since the city was liberated.

Young Iraqis ride horses and swim in the Tigris river in Mosul on the first day of Eid al-Fitr.

A food stand serving falafel and meat sandwiches resumed business amongst the ruins of the Old City of Mosul, which was devastated during the final phase of the battle for Mosul.

A woman buys cigarettes from a small shop in Mosul in March 2018, shortly after it reopened amongst the ruins of the Old City.

A man with crutches walks along a street in the Old City of Mosul.

A destroyed bridge connecting east and west Mosul.

Work underway to rebuild the once beautiful streets and homes of Mosul’s Al Midan neighborhood.