Life in Iraq through its civilians’ eyes
Soldiers guard the main entrance of Mosul University, one of the largest educational centres in the Middle East. After taking control of Mosul in 2014, ISIS shut down the university, reopening it after a few months but limiting the academic fields to just medicine, dentistry, nursing and pharmacy. The rest of the campus was largely turned into a military and weapons production base for ISIS; the chemistry labs were used to create chemical weapons. Much of the campus was dismantled during the ensuing operation to retake Mosul and a large portion of the books and resources were either looted or destroyed—a major loss as it was considered one of the most important collections of books in the Middle East. By March 2017, the campus was reopened to students despite much of it still in a state of ruin © Alexandra Rose Howland.
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