The destruction of Mosul: ISIL defeat reveals Old City rubble

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By CGTN's Tony Cheng

The final weeks of the battle to retake Mosul from ISIL have taken a heavy toll on the Old City, as the militants staged a last and desperate stand.

The Iraqi security forces faced a terrible dilemma, with tens of thousands of civilians trapped and starving behind ISIL defense lines.

A doll in the rubble of Mosul's Old City /CGTN Photo

They decided to push forward as quickly as they could, with the full might of artillery and air strikes that the US-led coalition provided.

Only now, as the final pockets of ISIL resistance are cleared up, is the full extent of the damage visible. Rows of shops and other businesses have crumpled, like a collapsed house of cards.

Buildings destroyed by air strikes and artillery /CGTN Photo

Cars have been crushed into balls of twisted metal, filling the craters left by missiles that pockmark the central roads. In the narrow alleyways that zig-zag across this part of the city, whole residential blocks have been reduced to piles of rubble.

And an eerie silence hangs over the area, punctuated by brief bursts of distant gunfire and explosions.

Crumpled shop fronts in Mosul's Old City /CGTN Photo

More than 100,000 people who lived here before, are all gone. The most visible casualty is the 12th century Great Mosque of al-Nuri Mosque, whose leaning minaret had become a symbol of the city.

ISIL leader Abu Bhakhir al Baghdadi made his first public appearance here and declared the establishment of the so-called Islamic State.

Men from the Security Services pose on the ruins of the al Nuri Mosque. /CGTN Photo

But his fighters blew the mosque up, as Iraqi security forces closed in on June 24, and now all that remains of the historic structure is a mountain of rubble with an Iraqi national flag planted on the top.

Men from the Iraqi security forces come to pose on the ruins of the minaret, safe in the knowledge that their job is nearly complete. The next job, however, is arguably more important.

One of the main intersections in Mosul's Old City /CGTN Photo

Rebuilding Mosul, and the lives of the civilians who lived under ISIL’s brutal rule for 3 years, is vital to ensuring that another dangerous group of militants doesn’t emerge from the rubble.

In the vacuum of frustration and dissatisfaction that is emerging after the fighting, it would be all too easy for the wounds of this conflict to fester.

Roads are being rebuilt after air strikes. /CGTN Photo

Sectarian divisions are already emerging as the brief euphoria of "liberation" wears off.

The thin veneer of unity that has papered over the Sunni/Shia divide will tear if the population of this majority Sunni city feels ignored by the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad.

The ruins of the al Nuri mosque /CGTN Photo

And endemic government corruption that plagued civilians in the past will have to be tempered as the people of Mosul try to restart their lives.

Unexploded ordnance litters the ground. /CGTN Photo

The battle to retake this city has been long and painful, leaving very visible scars.

Virtually every building in the Old City is damaged or destroyed. /CGTN Photo

Now the hard work begins.

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