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Article Body TextMosul, Iraq — <p>If they had tried to do this a few years ago, the group of Iraqi women enjoying a night out in Mosul would probably have risked severe punishment.</p> <p>The northern city was under the harsh rule of the Islamic State group until the jihadists were ousted from their last major Iraqi bastion in 2017.</p> <p>Seven years later, Mosul's streets truly come alive at nightfall, and residents are rediscovering the art of having a good time.</p> <p>Amira Taha and her friends have come to a restaurant with their children, to enjoy food and live music -- complete with crooners -- on a night out that would have been unthinkable under IS rule.</p> <p>"There has been enormous change in Mosul," Taha tells AFP. "We now have freedom and nights out like this have become common" because of "the very stable security situation."</p> <p>The city has new restaurants to go to, pleasure cruises on the river Tigris, and amusement parks that draw families keen to take advantage of the newfound stability.</p> <p>Dressed in an electric blue suit, the 35-year-old mother says "people wanted to open up [to the world] and enjoy themselves."</p> <p><strong>Reign of terror</strong></p> <p>On the stage, three Iraqi singers in suits and slicked-back hair take it in turns to entertain the diners with Iraqi and Arab pop songs.</p> <p>The orchestra includes an electric organist, a violinist, and a musician playing the darbouka, a goblet-shaped drum.</p> <p>When the jihadists took Mosul in 2014 they imposed a reign of sheer terror.</p> <p>Music was banned, as were cigarettes. Churches and museums were ransacked and IS staged public stonings and beheaded perceived wrongdoers.</p> <p>Even after Mosul was retaken in 2017 in a destructive and lengthy fight by Iraqi and international coalition forces, it took several years for its citizens to emerge from years of trauma.</p> <p>Entire neighborhoods were devastated, and reconstruction became a lengthy process.</p> <figure><img src="https://gdb.voanews.com/44d73167-f7bb-44fb-9191-b0254bd06e69_w1600_r1_n_s.jpg" /><figcaption>Iraqis sit at a popular café in the old city of Mosul on Sept. 2, 2024, seven years after the Islamist State (IS) group was ousted from the northern Iraqi city.</figcaption></figure> <p>Mines had to be cleared before homes, infrastructure and roads could be rebuilt to allow hundreds of thousands of people to return to what is now a metropolis of 1.5 million people.</p> <p>In the past, Taha says, "people would go home, shut their doors and then go to bed" because of fears over security.</p> <p>But now, all around her on the restaurant's lawns, families are seated at most of the tables.</p> <p>Sometimes the men and women puff on water pipes as their children clap and dance.</p> <p>Overlooking the restaurant is a brand-new bridge spanning the Tigris, a proud symbol of a Mosul being reborn.</p> <p><strong>Taking a gamble</strong></p> <p>Other cities in Iraq are in a similar situation, enjoying a return to normality after decades marked by war, sectarian violence, kidnappings, political conflict and jihadist extremism.</p> <p>Ahmed -- who goes by only his first name -- opened a restaurant called "Chef Ahmed the Swede" in June, after spending "half of my life" in Sweden and taking a gamble.</p> <p>Now he serves between 300 and 400 diners every day, Ahmed tells AFP.</p> <p>"I'd always dreamt of coming back and starting my own business," says the proprietor, who is in his 40s.</p> <p>"People want to go out, they want to see something different," he says.</p> <p>At Ahmed's, diners can choose from dishes inspired by Scandinavian and European cuisines, alongside old favorites such as pastas, pizzas and grilled meats.</p> <p>Khalil Ibrahim runs an amusement park on the banks of the river.</p> <p>"The city has seen radical changes over the past few years," he says. "We've gone from destruction to reconstruction."</p> <p>Friday is the first day of the weekend, and the evening is pierced by the happy shrieks and laughter of children in dodgem cars, the Ferris wheel and other attractions.</p> <p>"People used to go home early," Ibrahim tells AFP. "But now they're still arriving even at midnight."</p> <p><strong>'We can breathe'</strong></p> <p>His park opened in 2011, but it was "completely destroyed" in the war.</p> <p>"We started again from scratch" with the help of private funding, he says.</p> <p>As Mosul was still emerging from its jihadist nightmare, another tragedy befell the city.</p> <p>In 2019 around 100 people, mostly women and children, died when a ferry taking families across the river to a leisure park capsized.</p> <p>But today, pleasure boats ply the Tigris by night, their passengers admiring the riverbank lights of the restaurants and their reflection in the dark waters.</p> <p>In small cafes, clients play dominoes or cards as they have a smoke.</p> <p>"We're comfortable here. We can breathe. We have the river, and that's enough for us," says day laborer Jamal Abdel Sattar.</p> <p>"Some shops stay open until 3 in the morning, and some never close," he adds. "When people got their first taste of security, they began to go out again." </p>
Content TypeText
LanguageEnglish
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
Subtitles / Dubbing AvailableNo
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateSeptember 15, 2024 01:41 EDT
BylineAgence France-Presse
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
