AWSAJA, Iraq — Their smiles and eyes wide with anticipation say it all — for the first time in two years, Iraqi children in a village south of Mosul that was freed from the Islamic State group are back in school.
Awsaja, about 48 kilometers (30 miles) from the IS-held city and the ferocious battles underway there between Iraqi forces and IS militants, was reclaimed by the Iraqi military just a few months ago.