Daesh (ISIS) militants may have finished taking over Mosul, but a recent Arabic report says they're not done extending their control over the city.
Business has been booming lately for weapon stores in Iraq's northern city of Mosul, Arabic al-Khaleej Online reported Tuesday. New shops for weapons and military tools have been opening, and existing stores have seen a rise in sales since Daesh took Mosul from the Iraqi army.
The caveat? Business owners have lost their livelihood, and their stores have gone to the hands of Daesh, sources told al-Khaleej. Families with the small businesses left the weapons commerce and changed careers.
On Aleppo Street in Mosul, stores previously selling guns and weapons are full of Daesh flags and paraphernalia. Those who step foot into the stores are mostly Daesh militants. Entering the shops have always been dangerous — Iraqi officers sometimes interrogated those who buy weapons there — but now a businessowner says the streets are empty.
“All those shops are owned by Daesh soldiers," Salem Elias, a retail seller on Aleppo Street, told al-Khaleej Online. "Normal citizens don’t buy anything from those shops as they are afraid of the consequences that might affect them in the future."
Analysts told al-Khaleej Daesh is looking for cash flow after the coalition bombed their funding sources.
By Hayat Norimine
