Its destruction, which reached a climax in the final months of the siege of 2016/17, was the equivalent in terms of cultural loss to the bombing of Dresden by allied air forces in 1945.įor more than 1,000 years Mosul had been a great trading hub and a cosmopolitan centre inhabited by Arabs, Kurds, Christians, Yazidis, Turkomans, as well as other ethnicities and sects. Trust between the two is non-existent and its absence may be enough to prevent the rebuilding of Mosul, once one of the great cities of the Middle East, whose medieval mosques and markets were among the jewels of Islamic architecture.
Iraqis pray during the celebrations of the birth of the Prophet Mohammed, the “Mawlid al-Nabawi” holiday, in the courtyard of the war-ravaged landmark al-Nouri mosque in October, for the first time since the 2017 defeat of Isis (Photo: Zaid Al-Obeidi/ AFP via Getty Images)įear that former Isis supporters in Mosul might be unearthing concealed valuables is a symptom of the deep suspicion dividing the Sunni Arab population of Mosul and the Shia-dominated government in Baghdad. Whatever the origins of the treasure troves, the finding of the caches was enough to choke off the issuing of rebuilding permits by the authorities, with private housing applications now being meticulously examined and many rejected. Some of those who knew the secret of where it was hidden were most likely killed as the last Isis strongholds were pounded by air strikes and artillery fire, before being over-run by government forces. Isis commanders trapped in the city during the final stages of the siege are believed to have buried cash, along with gold and silver, to save it from the bombardment, or from discovery by the Iraqi army. Isis extracted large funds in taxes and loot from the population under its rule in western Iraq and northern Syria, during the three years Mosul was its de facto capital. “Money and gold coins were found hidden in barrels and plastic bags buried three metres underground,” he said.Ī worker walks past the base of the destroyed “al-Hadba” (Leaning) minaret in the old town of the northern city of Mosul in August (Photo: Ludovic Marin / AFP) Khalid says that six months earlier $1.6m (£1.2m), along with gold and silver coins and ingots, were found by building workers excavating a bombed-out house. “That is why reconstruction stopped temporarily.” The two workers who found the cash told him that the bags were splashed with mud and scorched by fire, but that the bank notes inside were undamaged.
Isis music hall full#
“A month ago, workers removing rubble from the ruins near my house found black plastic bags full of bank notes,” said Khalid, a 32-year-old resident of west Mosul, where the destruction is at its worst. Local people accuse the authorities of preventing them rebuilding their houses because officials suspect them of searching for cash or other valuables concealed by Isis. The search for hidden Isis treasure buried in the ruins of Mosul, the city recaptured from the terror group after a devastating nine-month siege in 2017, is the latest obstacle delaying its reconstruction.