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Martyn Aim – Near Dark

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While the liberation of Mosul is complete the war against ISIS continues. In the last months of 2017 during the battle for control of the city Iraqi forces clashed with Islamic State militants in the rubble of the narrow lanes of the Old City of west Mosul – fighting house to house among thousands of trapped and terrified civilians. From the mass graves and burning oil fields of northern Iraq to the prisons and slave markets of Mosul, the shared testimony of Iraqi’s who have fled Islamic State occupation are unimaginable in their cruelty. Islamic State militants now move among civilians planning future attacks. Official declarations of the Iraq and US governments that the battle against ISIS is complete in Iraq and Syria are false. The threat Islamic State poses to the future stability of Iraq – and Syria and beyond – remains. It is not possible to bomb this fierce philosophy into submission – the fight is far from over. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes and loved ones and are now struggling to rebuild their lives.
These photographs were taken during my daily coverage of the war against Islamic State working as a photographer. I began to strive to see beyond the conflict and to capture the terrible surreal beauty conjured in moments of unexpected silence, in stillness, on deserted streets. They are dark visions that stopped me in my tracks.

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