CITIES IN DUST

The destruction of the twin ISIS capitals, Mosul and Raqqa.

Wafa Thanoon, 51, Old City, Mosul. She was injured by blasts three different times during the fight for the Old City. “I am a muslim, I am a teacher. I don’t believe in their ideology, that’s why I didn’t follow them.”

Jamhuriya Bridge, Old City, Mosul.

Flooded streets, Old City, Mosul.

Morning fog, Raqqa.

Laborers, Old City, Mosul.

Hussein Ali Mohammed, 63, Old City, Mosul. Four of his sons aged 24, 25, 26, and 27, were killed in the battle when they left to get water for the family hit an IED.

Exhumation, Raqqa.

Al-Nouri Mosque, where al-Baghdadi declared the caliphate of ISIS, Old City, Mosul.

Reflections, Raqqa.

Alabaster Cornice, Old City, Mosul.

Boulevard, Raqqa.

Saja Ahmed, 9, lost her nephew in the battle for Old City in Mosul. “All night we couldn’t sleep because of the sounds of mortars and artillery- every night I covered my ears because of the noise. When I hear a motorcycle I’m scared it’s a bomb.” 

Apartment Block, Raqqa.

Paradise Square, Raqqa.

Falling beams, Raqqa.

Clothesline, Raqqa.

Hawla Mahdi Salah, 67, with her orphaned granddaughters Safae Khalid Adnan, 2, left, and Hawla Khalid Adnan, 9, right, Old City, Mosul.  On June 26, 2017, an airstrike destroyed their home and Ms. Salah lost 9 family members in the blast including the parents of Safae and Hawla.

Central Raqqa.

Rebar, Raqqa.

Ferries over the Euphrates, Raqqa.

Ibrahim Ammr, laborer, Old City, Mosul. Ran out of food during the siege escaped from ISIS hiding house to house. “I was 14 when Daesh came, and I left school. I can’t go back to school- I have to make money for my family.”

Woman, Old City, Mosul.

Market, Old City, Mosul.

Hashd militia patrol, Old City, Mosul.

Euphrates River, Raqqa.

Abdullah Hamud, 42, Raqqa. Mr. Hamud lost a five year old son in an airstrike near his home in the town of Kasra. He came to Raqqa six months ago to search for work.

Destroyed mosque, Old City, Mosul.

Home interiors, Old City, Mosul.

Weeds growing, Raqqa.

Night in the Old City, Mosul.

Mahmoud Said Dawood, 55, Old City, Mosul. His house was shelled, and he still carries shrapnel in his neck. “I think it will stay like this. ISIS took everything.” 

Old City, Mosul.

Demolition, Raqqa.

Hael Ferdous, Raqqa.

The Tigris flows past the Maidan.