Last July, the battle of Mosul ended. The western part of the city, around its historical center where the last fighters of the Islamic State were hiding, is a ghost town, devastated by 9 months of fighting. In the middle of the ruins, the corpses of the jihadists and the Iraqi soldiers fussing. In the rubble, teams of rescuers exhume the remains of civilians, victims of close combat and shelling of the international coalition. It’s time for funerals and mourning. A month later, the first civilians return to Mosul West and what remains of their house. Before the battle of Hawija, the last jihadist stronghold in Iraq, the soldiers put their weapons down, a little respite for the fighters.
