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The people of Mosul faced severe financial conditions after the city was seized by ISIS in June 2014. They have had limited access to food and other items essential to survive, which ISIS imports from the Syrian city of al-Raqqah, its sole port for transporting goods to Mosul .
Some Arab families from around Mosul keep livestock, smuggling them through al-Raqqa to other countries to make a living.
There is a big fuel crisis in the city, with its prices high enough that not everyone can afford buying it. Infants die daily from the lack of milk and medication. People with chronic diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure have no access to medication.
The majority of its population cannot get employment, hence can hardly afford to buy the basics of daily life, aside from a minority (estimated to be 20%) who are well-off due to their collaboration with ISIS.
Their main sources of income are wheat, barley, and livestock, which they produce locally in Mosul. But they have to turn to al-Raqqa for fruit and vegetation.
70% of foreign goods come from Syria, with part of the foreign food and clothing coming from Turkey.
Rudaw has learned from sources inside Mosul that people sell their kidneys due to destitution. For this reason, ISIS has opened a hospital to buy these kidneys for 3-4 million IQD, which they sell back for 8-14 million IQD.
Mosul is now completely isolated, having extreme difficulties to provide for life. The only place where people can get essential goods from is al-Raqqah.
Fuel prices have recently rocketed in the so-called caliphate, due to losing its fuel refineries in Gayara and Shargat.
ISIS regards Mosul as its stronghold, and wants to extend its caliphate from there all the way to Syria.
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