Najla Mohammed, a teacher at the University of Mosul in Sulaimaniyah in northern Iraq, said, “My return to Mosul will mean starting from scratch in a city that is in constant conflict, and I would have to rebuild the house, buy furniture and take care of many details.”
“The colleges at the university are completely destroyed, so I asked for a long four-year leave. I won’t be paid much, but I will be safe,” she added.
During the formulation of the 2017 austerity budget at the end of 2016, the Iraqi Council of Representatives had voted on a decision to grant a four-year leave to all employees in return for a nominal salary.
As the liberation of the western side of Mosul is ongoing, security breaches continue in the eastern and northern parts as IS uses drones and mortar rockets to target civilians and Iraqi forces. Most recently, there were rocket attacks in the Rashidiyah area, and no less than 20 people were killed in March, according to a medical source at the Zahra Center in eastern Mosul.
Salman Mahmood, a local police officer, told Al-Monitor, “The presence of sleeper cells is worrying.” He added that recently "an unknown person threw an explosive device near my house, while I live in a liberated area.”
He said, “Extremists see me as an apostate, and this puts my life at stake — and my family is always threatened. I'm actually thinking of leaving the city.”
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