Musil is Iraq's second city and for three years it was under the control of the

extremist group, the so-called Islamic State. When this city was liberated by Iraqi forces in July 2017, it emerged as a city of

rubble. I'm Shaima Khalil and I travel to Iraq for the BBC World Service.

Traffic is in full force, taxis, mini buses, trucks, armored vehicles, army trucks are all competing for space on these streets.

People are making their way through the vehicles and on the pavements.

Shops are open, street vendors are also braving this traffic and they're calling out for their good. Some are saying

come we have a sale or they're offering us things for about a thousand dinars which is

less than a dollar.

There are fruit juice stalls, showerma stalls, which is grilled meat,

and many, many shops with men's and women's clothes

out in the open.

There's so much buzz around the city and it's in stark

contrast to the kind of destruction it has suffered.

Musil was at the very center of fighting between IS and the Iraqi and coalition forces.

In addition to countless explosions on the ground, the city was also bombed from above.

The results are shocking. In the background of the hustle and bustle of this city,

I'm looking at heaps of stone where buildings once stood.

Pockmarked and bullet-ridden walls and facades, metal tangling

out of the wreckage.

In this program I'll be meeting eight women from the city of Mosul, professional archaeologists and

architects. Together they're training to save the treasures of Iraq with the help of

the world famous British Museum in London. This part of Iraq was a treasure trove of

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