Life after ISIL: Mosul musicians emerge from the shadows

Musicians who lived under ISIL rule had to keep their profession a secret or face severe punishment. But now they have begun to perform again.

Erbil, Iraq – Iraqi forces continue to root out the last remaining pockets of ISIL fighters in Mosul.

But rebuilding the city and allowing people to return to their old lives is now the main priority.

Musicians who lived under ISIL rule had to keep their profession a secret or face severe punishment.

Many hid or destroyed their instruments and did not play for the three years that ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, controlled the city. But now they have begun to perform again.