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Tragic images from inside the University of Mosul - a recently-liberated ISIS stronghold

Tom MurrayJan 31, 2017, 18:00 IST

The interior of a burnt building of the University of Mosul is seen during a battle with Islamic State militants, in Mosul, Iraq, January 14, 2017.REUTERS / Ahmed Saad

The Iraqi army recently announced that they had 'liberated' large parts of eastern Mosul from ISIS forces.

In that part of the city was Iraq's second-largest educational institution - the University of Mosul, which had been an ISIS stronghold since the summer of 2014.

Military officials said that taking the university was a crucial strategic gain in the battle against ISIS' caliphate in Iraq.

Over the two and a half years of occupation, thousands of rare books and manuscripts were destroyed, courses were cancelled and buildings were burnt to the ground.

Scroll down to see the tragic, haunting remains of what was one of the Middle-East's crowning educational institutions.