Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) has helped airdrop four million letters of solidarity from ordinary Iraqis to the residents of Islamic State (IS)-held Mosul as part of a groundbreaking initiative supporting local voices and freedom of expression.
Airplanes dropping love letters
Nearly 60 young volunteers from Baghdad, Basra, Najaf, Babil, and Anbar worked from November 23 to December 15 to collect messages of support from ordinary people.
They set up kiosks in central parts of each city, inviting citizens to write letters to the people of Mosul, with the aim of allowing ordinary Iraqis to reach out directly to those held hostage by Islamic State.
The 25-year-old, born into a long-established Mosul family, has been displaced from his hometown since the IS invasion.
The letters were dropped from a plane above the city of Mosul on the evening of December 22, 2016 in collaboration with the Iraqi Air Force and the national National Cell of Psychological Operations.
