Mosul

Istanbul police have apprehended a high-ranking member of ISIL during an operation that resulted in the detention of eight other individuals.

The suspect, identified as Jamal Ismael Ahmad Almad, had been under the surveillance of intelligence and terror units for some time before the operation.

Iraqi officials on May 11 said Mosul's once-celebrated museum had entered the final stages of restorations ahead of a planned 2026 reopening after being closed to the public for 20 years.

The museum closed its doors in 2003, amid the chaos following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, and was later ransacked by Islamic State group jihadists after they seized the city in 2014.

Strolling along the ancient ruins of Hatra in Iraq's north, dozens of visitors admired the site, where local initiatives seek to turn over a new leaf after a brief but brutal jihadist rule.

Designated an endangered world heritage site by UNESCO, Hatra dates back to the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C.

An Iraqi museum is using computer technology and virtual reality headsets to turn back time, so visitors can explore heritage sites destroyed by jihadists and in battles to defeat them.

The ISIL captured a third of Iraq in a lightning offensive in 2014, seizing the northern city of Mosul as their stronghold and vandalizing or destroying a swathe of cultural sites across the country.

Iraq unveiled three monumental sculptures in the ancient city of Hatra on Feb. 24, newly restored after being vandalized by militants of the Islamic State group during their brief but brutal rule.

The foundations of a prayer hall from the 12th century have been discovered under the Al-Nuri mosque, where the Islamic State group once proclaimed their "caliphate," in Iraq's Mosul, site managers said on Jan. 18.

From the rubble of Iraq's war-ravaged city of Mosul arises the sight of androids gliding back and forth in a restaurant to serve their amused clientele.

"Welcome", "We wish you a good time in our restaurant", "We would be happy to have your opinion on the quality of the service", chime the automated attendants, red eyes blinking out of their shiny blue and white exteriors.

Pope Francis has visited parts of northern Iraq that were held by Islamic State (IS) militants on the third day of his historic trip to the country.

Christians were among those targeted by IS when they seized the region in 2014, carrying out human rights abuses.

The Pope prayed among ruined churches in Mosul, the former IS stronghold, before meeting Christians in Qaraqosh.

Pope Francis prayed on March 7 for "victims of war" outside a centuries-old church in Iraq's Mosul, where the ISIL group ravaged one of the world's oldest Christian communities until the jihadists' defeat three years ago.

Monuments that have endured through time and hardship are free of the bonds of their age, of the vision and fate of their creators. They become part of our global heritage, "judging" those responsible for their preservation.

The way that people and governments behave toward great works reveals their principles, their qualities, the future of their society.