yalda hakim has been to mosul to meet survivors and discover how they endured three years of brutal rules. she reports now for our world. this is mosul, iraq's second city. there is nothing left, nothing that is not untouched. when isis unleashed their reign of terror, the world watched in horror. for the people of mosul, there was no escape. isis have been routed. but what happened to the people who survived? the road to mosul is long and convoluted. to reach even the outskirts of the city, you have to navigate numerous checkpoints. these roads are busy again, but all around you can see the remnants from nine months of fighting. we've just entered west mosul and we're yet to see the full devastation of this war. while it very much feels like this city is functioning again, there is very much a war going on here. there are still pockets of isis fighters in the old city. the baghdad government has declared this war over but the threat from isis still lingers. i was here in 2013 and mosul then was one of the most dangerous cities on earth. i was making a film about the arab world's oldest

as yalda hakim found out, life is slowly returning to the city.t life is slowly returning to the city. even here, within the charred walls of mosul university. it stores closed injune, mosul university. it stores closed in june, 2014, mosul university. it stores closed injune, 2014, after the so—called islamic state turned it into its headquarters. science labs were used as makeshift weapons factories. iraqi forces discovered what they have long suspected and feared, sulphur mustard. according to the us pentagon, the university was central to is‘s chemical weapons programme. now some classes have resumed and stu d e nts now some classes have resumed and students are beginning to return. balmedie newbuilding, but some things are irreplaceable. among the ashes, over a million books on philosophy, law and literature. all burnt by is. the seat of learning represented everything they stood against. intellectuals like this are the, —— a runout professor of law, lived in fear of their lives. so what did you do? the sense of life flooding back into this t

but as yalda hakim found out, life is slowly returning, and a once prestigious university has reopened beneath the rubble are untold numbers of bodies. but life is slowly returning to the city. even here within the charred walls of this university. its doors closed in june, walls of this university. its doors closed injune, 2014, after the so—called islamic state turned it into its headquarters. science labs we re into its headquarters. science labs were turned into makeshift weapons factories. iraqi forces discovered what they long suspected and feared, soulful mustered. —— sulphur mustard. some classes have now resumed and students are returning. they will need a new building, but some things are irreplaceable. among the ashes, over a million books on philosophy and literature, all burned by islamic state. this seat of learning represented everything they stood against. intellectuals like ali, a renowned professor of law, who lived in fear for their lives. so, what did you do? the sense of life flooding back into this town is palpable. but the scars are there. this is a student from

this special report by yalda hakim contains images some viewers may find distressing. to reach even the outskirts of the city you have to navigate numerous checkpoints and roadblocks. we've just entered west mosul. the baghdad government has declared victory. but the threat still lingers. there are still pockets of is fighters in the old city. and this is what liberation looks like. iraq's second largest city, just ruins. the bulk of the city is just completely destroyed and devastated. there's nothing left. nothing that is now not untouched. i cannot even begin to imagine what it would have been like for the people trapped in this city. they were not allowed out, isis wasn't letting them. and there was constant bombardment here. and now everything is destroyed. trapped beneath these ruins there are untold numbers of bodies. this woman is now homeless along with a million other people in this city. what are your children saying? this is the ambulance that has come to transfer me. this doctor is getting to work, the only way he can. i am a volunteer doctor, not a gradua