The city of Mosul (meaning the linking point in Arabic), is one of the oldest cities in the world. For millennia, it has been a strategic crossing and a bridge between north and south, east and west. Due to its strategic location, it became home to a large number of people from diverse backgrounds, ethnicities and religious beliefs. However, this unique location also made it a target for ISIL/Daesh. In 2014, the the Islamic State took the city and declared it its capital. Three devastating years (2014-2017) of occupation passed before the shackles of violent extremism could be broken.