As the battle to liberate Mosul from Islamic State militants enters its final stage, Iraqi troops this week discovered a squalid prison hidden inside a villa in western Mosul.
Inside An Islamic State Prison In Mosul
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Iraqi soldiers outside the villa used as a prison by Islamic State militants. The incognito prison is an example of the extremist group's new tactic of hiding their operations among the civilian population.
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A steel gate opens to the hidden prison abandoned by the extremists. The prison was reportedly used to hold captured Iraqi soldiers and members of the Yazidi religious minority.
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Discarded blankets piled inside a shuttered room used as a cell for men.
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An Iraqi soldier inside the compound. The battle to liberate Mosul, now in its eighth month, has been slower than expected, in part because of the militants' tactic of fighting amid civilian areas.
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Materials for bomb making on the floor of the compound. The extremist group is known for leaving behind booby traps as they retreat.
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A completed bomblet. Most notoriously, Islamic State militants have hidden bombs like this one inside children's soft toys.
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Discarded flatbread on a kitchen table inside the prison. Islamic State is reportedly instructing followers to eat the flesh of non-Muslims in times of need during war.
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An Iraqi soldier shows Reuters' photographer a surveillance camera used to monitor prisoners inside the compound.
![The camera relayed images to this monitor inside the control room of the prison. An Iraqi intelligence officer told Reuters, "This [was] to keep the prisoners subdued". ](https://gdb.rferl.org/2e939af5-f3f0-4c3a-8268-6905988308b3_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The camera relayed images to this monitor inside the control room of the prison. An Iraqi intelligence officer told Reuters, "This [was] to keep the prisoners subdued".
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Discarded children's textbooks and toys inside a room being searched by an Iraqi soldier. As of June 6, Islamic State militants reportedly control just 4 square kilometers of Mosul.
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The photo of an unidentified girl is placed on a desk inside the compound.