With Mosul victory at hand, displaced residents ponder uncertain future
None
Victory over Islamic State may be close at hand in the battle for Mosul but many of the almost one million city residents displaced by months of fighting are in no mood to celebrate.
At a camp sheltering a fraction of those who have fled eight months of combat between Iraqi forces and Islamic State militants, the main concern is keeping cool without electricity as temperatures climb above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Some of the displaced people living at Hassan Sham camp east of Mosul are selling food rations in order to buy a more precious commodity: ice. A small block measuring roughly a foot long (30 cm) sells for 500 Iraqi dinars ($0.43).
Standing in the ice queue, some camp residents said they would be happy to see the back of the militants, who subjected them to three years of violence and privation, but questioned how they would rebuild their lives in a ravaged city.
