It will take the bus beyond Mosul and into other parts of Iraq. The library has titles on culture, philosophy, social, science and literature. “We set aside religious and political books because ...

The mosque and minaret were destroyed in June 2017 during the battle to oust IS from Mosul, and Iraq’s authorities accused the jihadists of planting explosives before their withdrawal.

British author Edmund de Waal says he will donate almost 2,000 books to the Mosul University Library in Iraq to help rebuild its collection, which was partly destroyed by Daesh terrorists in 2015.