Before and after: old postcards show destruction by IS

A photographer, armed with a photo camera and a pack of old postcards, set off through the Iraqi city of Mosul. The city was besieged and occupied by terrorist organization IS for years and was liberated in July 2017. The contrast between the postcards of a not too distant past and the new photos of today cannot be nearly any bigger.

Akram Abdulwahab Agha, the photographer who took these photographs, lived in Mosul when Islamic State invaded the city. He managed to flee the city and stayed away until 2017. When he returned, he discovered that his house had been used as a base by IS militants.

“The streets were completely destroyed, all residents in shock. I felt like a stranger in my own city that has changed completely.” Akram Abdulwahab Agha said

Akram found the postcards and photos in an old library that survived the war. They show some familiar places such as the Hurrya bridge, the al-Hadba Minaret and the Virgin Mary Church. Akram recorded the before and after photos to show IS crimes.

He thought that the city was eternally doomed, but normal life is gradually starting to resume. “Mosul is back, and so we are.”