At another house in the ruins of the old city center, Firas Sabah told Xinhua that he hoped his 9-year-old daughter Zainab could get healed as she had her spine and pelvis broken at a bombing during the battles.

"My little daughter cannot move, and I wish she can get some treatment and be able to move," Sabah said.

He also wished that people in the old city center could have a rest as they have suffered a lot during the occupation of the IS group and the battles to free Mosul.

"There are many killed or wounded," Sabah said with tears in his eyes. "Many of the residents are living in refugee camps. People are tired."

Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, witnessed one of the fiercest battles as the IS extremists holed up in the narrow alleys of the old city center, where they booby-trapped buildings and planted a large number of roadside bombs.

In July, 2017, the Iraqi government announced the liberation of the heavily populated city after nearly nine months of fierce fighting and heavy bombardment.

The battles killed thousands of people and caused large-scale devastation of the city, according to the provincial government.

However, the residents in Mosul have never lost hope in rebuilding their beloved home city.

Iraqi experts estimated that Mosul needs over 50 billion U.S. dollars for reconstruction and for the return of the displaced people.

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