Volunteers search rubble to save Mosul university

Leaning on his crutch, Nizar picks through the rubble where the main building of Mosul University used to be, looking for whatever administrative documents can still be salvaged.

He is part of a unit of four volunteers working relentlessly to bring the university back to life three months after the damage it suffered during an Iraqi offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

The sprawling campus on the now retaken eastern side of Mosul was extensively destroyed because it had been used as a major headquarters by the jihadists who took over the city in June 2014.

"This is all that's left here," said Nizar, a young man in his twenties, after clambering through a hole into a gutted room that used to be the office where student cards were printed.

Iraqi forces launched a massive offensive in October last year to retake the country's second city from the jihadists and in January fully secured the eastern side, where the university is located.

Nizar and his three friends are going room-to-room, one floor after another, turning every piece of debris to find records and permits that could make resuming a university year easier.

"After the liberation, we came here and assessed the damage," said Hamdoon, another young volunteer.

"Twelve buildings were completely levelled, the other buildings had damage ranging between five and 20 percent, most of it caused by arson," he said. "Also, some were booby-trapped and have now been cleared."

Broken classroom chairs were piled up outside some of the buildings that are still standing and whose walls have been marked "safe" or "unsafe" with red spray paint.

"These buildings have a history and we too have stories in each one....