In the half of Mosul freed from Islamic State, life returns to not-quite normal
In parts of this northern Iraqi city, life seems routine. People flock to sidewalk barbecue joints and falafel stands. Shops are open. Traffic snakes through run-down thoroughfares. But war intrudes closer to the Tigris River, the line now separating government forces on the east side of the city from Islamic State jihadis bunkered in the […]Nabih Bulos writes for LA Times:
In parts of this northern Iraqi city, life seems routine. People flock to sidewalk barbecue joints and falafel stands. Shops are open. Traffic snakes through run-down thoroughfares.
But war intrudes closer to the Tigris River, the line now separating government forces on the east side of the city from Islamic State jihadis bunkered in the west.
Soldiers nervously train Russian-made heavy machine guns skyward in a hunt for weaponized drones or compulsively squint at the thickets along the riverbank, firing at any sign of movement. Fearing Islamic State snipers, weary residents scurry through open spaces and past makeshift barriers meant to stop car bombs.
