Bodies of dead Islamic State fighters still lay in the streets of west Mosul. The stench of death, a mixture of bodily waste and rotting flesh, mingled with the smell of garbage that hung in the air. As Iraqi forces extend their control over the city, killing or chasing away remaining ISIS fighters, they encounter reminders of the regime imposed by the militant cleric Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who declared a new Islamic caliphate at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri.



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