Iraqis Numb Pain in Islamic State in Newly Opened Bar Near Mosul

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 74%. (I'm a bot)

QARAQOSH, Iraq - In a town ravaged by the war against Islamic State, amid ransacked homes and shuttered shops, a flashing sign above the entrance to one business beckons visitors: "Welcome", it reads.

It is the first bar to reopen since Islamic State militants were routed from the northern Iraqi town of Qaraqosh nine months ago in the early stages of a campaign to retake Mosul, around 15 km west.

Some of the bar's patrons are Muslims, savoring the freedom to drink and smoke, which they were denied under Islamic State.

For Christians, who trace their history in Iraq back two millennia, Islamic State has called into question the very future of their community in the predominantly Muslim Middle East.

Around 400 families have now returned to Qaraqosh - also known as Hamdaniya - which was the largest Christian settlement in Iraq until Islamic State took over, with a population of more than 50,000.

His main concern is security, but it is not Islamic State that worries him.

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