“Islamic State – Euphrates Province” reads an abandoned sign covered by dust and sand in the Iraqi town of Rawa. A day after government forces ousted the Islamic State group from the last town it held in the country, the banner is now just a reminder of the vast “caliphate” the jihadists once ruled. Hamza Mahmud, 13, has seen the past three years of his young life dominated by the harsh demands and tight control of IS in this desert region on the border with Syria. Since the group seized his home town on a bend in the Euphrates River in 2014, he has not spent one day in school. “Men had to have long beards and wear traditional robes to their ankles or they would get twenty lashes,” he told AFP, sporting a bright yellow pullover bearing the crest of the Italian national football team. Published in Daily Times, November 20th 2017.