An Iraqi Army member launches a rocket during the operation to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists in Jadid neighborhood as the clashes between Iraqi Army and Daesh terrorists continue in Mosul, Iraq on April 2, 2017. (Photo by Hemn Baban/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

An Iraqi special forces Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) member screams during a battle against Islamic State group jihadists (IS) in Mosul's al-Rifaq neighbourhood on January 8, 2017, as an ongoing military operation against the militants continues. Elite Iraqi forces battling the Islamic State group in eastern Mosul reached the Tigris River that splits the city in two for the first time, a spokesman said. (Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP Photo)

Iraqi Kurds carry fire torches as they celebrate Nowruz Day, a festival marking the first day of spring, Kurdish and Persian New Year in Akre, Iraq on March 20, 2024. Newroz or Nowruz means “new day” in Persian, and is celebrated to mark the arrival of spring and the first day of the Iranian calendar. It is widely celebrated in Persian and neighboring regions and is recognized on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage of Human List. (Photo by Ismael Adnan/SOPA Images/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

An Iraqi man sells dried fish ahead of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Basra on April 8, 2024. (Photo by Hussein Faleh/AFP Photo)

A Sunni Muslim child plays in the rain as she arrives for Eid al-Fitr prayers at the shrine of cleric Sheikh Abdul Qadir al-Gailani in Baghdad, Iraq on March 31, 2025. (Photo by Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters)

People gather for the second annual “Cat Beauty Festival” organized by Royal Veterinary Hospital in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq on July 2, 2025. Around 200 cats participated in the event, where the first round was determined by social media votes. The winner, a cat named “Gule Rana”, was selected by a jury. The festival aims to promote animal love and raise awareness about feline care. (Photo by Fariq Faraj Mahmood/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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 garbage collector looks for recyclable waste at a dump in Erbil, in Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdistan region, February 21, 2016. (Photo by Azad Lashkari/Reuters)