Iraq's second largest city, Mosul, is locked under the rule of extremists from the Islamic State group trying to purge it of everything they see as contradicting their stark vision of Islam. A trove of photographs now housed at the Library of Congress offers a glimpse of a different Mosul – before wars, insurgency, sectarian strife and now radicals' rule. The scenes were taken in the autumn of 1932 by staff from the American Colony Photo Department during a visit to Iraq at the end of the British mandate. (Photo by AP Photo)

A Shiite fighter from the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) patrols in the village of Ayn Nasir, south of Mosul, on October 29, 2016, after recapturing it from Islamic State group jihadists in an ongoing operation to retake the city of Mosul. Iraqi paramilitary forces launched an operation to cut the Islamic State group's supply lines between its Mosul bastion and neighbouring Syria, opening a new front in the nearly two-week-old offensive. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP Photo)

A damaged traffic signal is pictured along a street at a residential area flooded by the Kinugawa river, caused by typhoon Etau in Joso, Ibaraki prefecture, Japan, September 11, 2015. Unprecedented rain in Japan unleashed heavy floods on Friday that tore houses from their foundations, uprooted trees and forced more than 100,000 people from their homes. (Photo by Issei Kato/Reuters)

In this Friday, November 6, 2015 photo dancers Alba Ibanez, right, and Luis Chavez, both from Spain, dress up backstage before taking part in the World Salsa Master dance competition in Madrid. Ten dance couples from different countries around the world performed in front of an audience of around 2,000 people. Participants – who wore bright, colorful outfits – came from the United States, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Chile, Uruguay, Czech Republic and Venezuela. (Photo by Francisco Seco/AP Photo)

A Kurdish female fighter from the People's Protection Units (YPG) gestures as she carries her weapon near al-Hawl area where fighting between Islamic State fighters and fighters from Democratic Forces of Syria are taking place in south-eastern city of Hasaka, Syria November 10, 2015. (Photo by Rodi Said/Reuters)

Palestinians kids from the West Bank Palestinian village Umm Al Rajaj cross the Meitar checkpoint into Israel on their way to the beach of Tel Aviv for the first time, Israel, 10 August 2016. A group of humanitarian Israeli women called in Arabic “Min Al Baher” (from the sea) voluntarily arranges authorizations and transportation for Palestinians families that live in the West Bank to cross into Israel in order to visit the sea for the first time. (Photo by Abir Sultan/EPA)

A gaucho is unseat by a wild horse during the annual celebration of Criolla Week in Montevideo, March 30, 2015. Throughout Easter Week, “gauchos”, the Latin American equivalent of the North American cowboy, from all over Uruguay and neighboring Argentina and Brazil will visit Montevideo to participate in the Criolla Week to win the best rider award. The competition is held from March 29 to April 5 this year. (Photo by Andres Stapff/Reuters)

In this Tuesday, March 31, 2015 photo, Indian women walk carrying firewood they collected from a forest at Gobhali village on the outskirts of Gauhati, India. Every evening, hundreds of millions of Indian women hover over crude stoves making dinner for their families. They feed the flames with polluting fuels like kerosene or cow dung, and breathe the acrid smoke wafting from the fires. (Photo by Anupam Nath/AP Photo)