People begin to return to villages near Mosul

World Today

People begin to return to villages near Mosul

Despite the danger, some Iraqis are staying put in towns near Mosul that have been recently recaptured and remain largely intact.

CCTV’ Jack Barton was in the town of Fazlia two weeks ago when Kurdish Peshmerga fighters liberated it from ISIL. Barton returned to Fazlia to find the town springing back to life.

Fazlia is close to Mosul, but also just down the road from Bashiqa-another ISIL-occupied town that has just been recaptured.

Just two weeks ago, it was a ghost town. In fact it was a death trap with improvised explosive devices everywhere. It was unsafe just to step off of the road.

It’s still dangerous. There’s still a bomb sitting out front where the children play. In one of the buildings, a guide showed, ISIL had a suicide vehicle that was supposed to attack the Peshmerga positions. They never got a chance to use it.

The only time his family fled was for three days-when a shell he believes was a chemical weapon, struck his roof.

It’s not particularly healthy, but smoking is now allowed along with simple things like mobile phones and getting a haircut.

In some nearby villages there’s no home to come back to. But towns like Fazlia are a heartening sign for aid agencies who are still hoping a major humanitarian crisis can be averted if, like this town, Mosul can be re-captured largely intact.