MOSUL, Iraq—Iraqi schoolgirl Manar Mahmoud is eager to resume classes after years of life under the ISIS terrorist group in Mosul, ignoring the nearby rattle of artillery fire.
The 13-year-old is back at her old school in the eastern part of the city, which Iraqi forces recaptured from the Sunni Muslim militants in January.
Within earshot, fighting is still raging. Just across the River Tigris, government troops, artillery and aircraft are attacking Islamic State’s last stronghold in the Old City in western Mosul.
But with the first new textbooks having arrived last week, teachers are wasting no time restarting classes. The girls have years of catching-up to do: most of them stopped going to school after the militants overran Mosul in June 2014.
“We want to learn, we do not want to be ignorant,” said Manar, assembling in the courtyard with other girls before classes.
