Al-Nuri mosque, one of the most famous landmarks in the Old City of Mosul, where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi made a rare public appearance in early July 2014 and gave a speech proclaiming the creation of a new "caliphate" is seen in West Mosul after Iraq Police and Iraq army retook the old city.

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The Battle for Mosul

Yusuke Suzuki | Iraq

Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, was the scene of a battle for control between Iraqi, Kurdish, and ISIS forces. In June 2014, the leader of Isis, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, declared a global caliphate from Mosul. Since October 2016 it had been the site of a military operation to dislodge and defeat militant forces. The city was under the control of ISIS from June 2014 to July 2017. Even though Iraqi prime minister said Mosul is completely liberated, there are still ISIS fighters hide and fight in the old city. And there are so many mines and booby traps that ISIS fights set up in the old city. People are still afraid of ISIS and they don't know who belong to them among their friends. The fight against ISIS is not over yet at all. This just might be a start of next phase for a long battle against ISIS. 

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