Iraq's Prime Minister Mustafa Al Kadhimi arrived in Mosul on Wednesday to survey the damage left six years after the city was overrun by ISIS and to voice his commitment to the city after years of neglect.

Speaking upon his arrival, Mr Al Kadhimi said: "we must never allow what happened in 2014 to be repeated".

The northern Iraqi city became the extremist group's de facto capital in the country between 2014 and 2017, when a grinding internationally-backed military campaign ousted them in the country. Mr Al Kadhimi's first meeting in Mosul on Wednesday morning was with military and security chiefs. He is accompanied by Lieutenant General Abdul Wahab Al Saadi, the head of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service who was instrumental in defeating ISIS in Mosul and liberating it in June 2017.

The visit comes just weeks after Mr Al Kadhimi took office after five months of political wrangling that saw two others attempt to form a cabinet only to stand down. Mr Al Kadhimi has now formed a full cabinet and has begun to set out a programme of work to fix the country's shattered infrastructure, look to create jobs, improve public services and address demands of the thousands of protesters who's collective anger at the state of the nation forces the previous administration to resign.

But, three years later and much of the city is still in ruins, reconstruction hampered by the tons of unexploded ordnance, booby traps and mines left by the terror group.

The battle for Mosul left behind an estimated 8 million tons of rubble and destroyed prominent historical architecture.

On fleeing the city, ISIS militants blew up the 12th century Al Nuri Mosque, from which the group’s leader had declared the formation of his so-called caliphate.

But rebuilding is taking place, people are slowly returning, and the city has been undergoing a transformation in the last two years. The UAE has committed $50 million (Dh 183.6m) to the reconstruction of the Al Nuri Mosque with its famous leaning minaret. The project will also rebuild the nearby 800-year-old Al Tahera church and Al Saa’a Church, in collaboration with Unesco and the Iraqi government.

In February, Noura Al Kaabi, the UAE’s Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, declared the first phase of a collective rebuilding of the mosque complete.

Rebuilding the city and their lives has not been easy for residents. Recent trials for residents include flooding and dealing with the coronavirus.

Visiting the city may be a symbolic start to a planned offensive against ISIS, which still operates in the country.

In May, Mr Al Kadhimi confirmed a widespread military push including the Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces militias, aimed at preventing a resurgence of the group.

“ISIS may be under the illusion that we are occupied with Cabinet formation and economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, and use it as an opportunity to expand," he said on May 17.

"They are wrong. We will soon launch the battle. ISIS, wait for us."

The Nation