Mosul from riches to rags: The fall of Iraq's commercial and cultural hub
Iraq's once bustling and prosperous city has become the "crown jewel" of Islamic State's so-called caliphate.
Tuesday 18 October 2016 13:54, UK
The assault on Mosul aims to reclaim what was once the commercial and cultural capital of Iraq from the grip of Islamic State.
It took the terrorist organisation just four days to capture the city back in June 2014.
It could take weeks, possibly longer, to retake it.
Mosul was the north's centre for trade which fell into IS hands in a crushing and humiliating defeat.
Jihadis, armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, overran government and military buildings.
As prisoners were let loose on the streets, thousands of families fled to the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq's north.
"Mosul now is like hell. It's in flames and death is everywhere," said widow Amina Ibrahim at the time, as she left with her children.
Police officers discarded their uniforms and weapons and fled the city where more than a million civilians still reside - and where the IS black flag has been flying for the past two years.
IS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi visited the city to declare an Islamic caliphate which at one point covered nearly a third of Iraq and Syria.
The fact that IS has maintained its grip on the once bustling and prosperous city is down to, in part, its military might - fed by more than £1bn in illicit activity.
A cash injection of $400m (£245m) was grabbed in a single day when it raided Mosul's central bank.
This, combined with hundreds of millions in earnings from hostage ransoms, has made it the richest and most powerful terror group ever.
It has also made millions from Mosul's vast oil fields - and from the sale of rare antiquities stolen from the region's museums.
What was once considered the "crown jewel" of Iraq has become the "crown jewel" of Islamic State's so-called caliphate, which stretches into Syria.
Its capture propelled IS to worldwide infamy, and the militants are unlikely to give up the city easily. Victory for Iraqi forces and their allies could spell the beginning of the end for IS in Iraq.