In this Aug. 19, 2018, photo, two girls act out an episode from a Tom & Jerry cartoon at the state-run al-Zuhour Orphanage in Mosul, Iraq. Nearly 60 Iraqi children are kept in two orphanages in Iraq's second largest city that was captured by the Islamic State group in 2014 and liberated by U.S.-backed security forces last year after a nearly year-long battle. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Associated Press
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) - In Iraqi orphanages, you find all the ways that war wreaks its destruction, embodied in the most innocent of faces: Children of those killed, children born of rape, children abandoned in the chaos of battle. There are also the children of the enemy.
Salhiya orphanage, Iraq's state-run facility in Baghdad, is now home to children of foreign jihadis who came to join the Islamic State group and are now either dead or incarcerated.
During a recent visit by The Associated Press, more than a dozen cribs were arranged end-to-end in a room set for babies. Toddlers able to stand rocked side to side, holding the sides of the cribs. There were plenty of cuddles by staff, who left no baby to cry.
The facility houses a mix of infants born to Iraqi women enslaved by militants and older children brought to Iraq; some were simply abandoned. A newborn given the name Helen by the caretakers was left by her mother at a hospital after her birth.
In northern Iraq, nearly 60 Iraqi children are kept in two orphanages in Mosul, the country's second largest city, which was captured by IS in 2014 and liberated by U.S.-backed security forces last year after a nearly year-long battle. Many of them are the children of Iraqi members of the militant group.
Toddlers scooted around in tiny walkers, holding up their favorite toys in the bright and tidy playroom. Television was deployed to entertain the kids - two of the girls acted out an entire Tom & Jerry episode.
Abeer al-Chalabi, a senior government official in Baghdad who oversees orphanages, said some of the foreign children came to the facilities with the radical ideas instilled by the parents. One 5-year-old boy, she said, refused to shake her hand because she's a woman. A 7-year-old boy asked for a knife to show a friend how to behead a doll.
"We have slowly changed their ideas and the way they think," al-Chalabi said.
Here is a selection of photos from Baghdad and Mosul.
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In this Aug. 15, 2018 photo, shoes are stacked on shelves at the state-run Salhiya Orphanage, which now hosts foreign and Iraqi children of Islamic State militants, in Baghdad, Iraq.(AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 15, 2018 photo, a boy plays in the hallway at the state-run Salhiya Orphanage, which now hosts foreign and Iraqi children of Islamic State militants, in Baghdad, Iraq. "We have slowly changed their ideas and the way they think," said Abeer al-Chalabi, a senior government official in charge of social affairs in Baghdad. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 16, 2018 photo, a caregiver soothes a newborn baby girl named Helen at the state-run Salhiya Orphanage, which now hosts foreign and Iraqi orphans, in Baghdad, Iraq. Helen was left behind at a hospital shortly after her birth, according to caretakers at the orphanage. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 19, 2018 photo, a girl has a tantrum at the state-run al-Zuhour Orphanage, in Mosul, Iraq. Orphanages are where wars play out: children abandoned in the chaos of battle, children born of rape and sexual slavery, babies left behind in the hospital in the hopes of a fresh start, and those left in state care after their parents are sentenced to death. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 16, 2018 photo, a toddler drinks from a cup at the state-run Salhiya Orphanage, which now hosts foreign and Iraqi children orphaned by Islamic State militants and the battle to oust them, in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 15, 2018 photo, a worker comforts a toddler at the state-run Salhiya Orphanage, which now hosts foreign and Iraqi children orphaned by Islamic State militants and the battle to oust them, in Baghdad, Iraq. Orphanages are where wars play out: children abandoned in the chaos of battle, children born of rape and sexual slavery, babies left behind in the hospital in the hopes of a fresh start, and those left in state care after their parents are sentenced to death. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 19, 2018 photo, a newborn lies in her crib at the state-run al-Zuhour orphanage, in Mosul, Iraq. Here, it's a mix of infants born to Iraqi women who were enslaved by militants and older children whose parents are jailed; some were simply abandoned in the chaos that follows a war. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 16, 2018 photo, an infant lies in her crib at the state-run Salhiya Orphanage, which now hosts foreign and Iraqi children, in Baghdad, Iraq. Salhiya hosts children of foreign jihadists whose parents are either dead or incarcerated. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 19, 2018 photo, babies toddle around in walkers at the state-run al-Zuhour Orphanage in Mosul, Iraq. Orphanages are where wars play out: children abandoned in the chaos of battle, children born of rape and sexual slavery, babies left behind in the hospital in the hopes of a fresh start, and those left in state care after their parents are sentenced to death. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 15, 2018 photo, girls play in a playpen at the state-run Salhiya Orphanage, which now hosts foreign and Iraqi children orphaned by Islamic State militants and the battle to oust them, in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Associated Press
In this Aug. 19, 2018 photo, a girl wanders through a hallway at the state-run al-Zuhour orphanage, in Mosul, Iraq. Nearly 60 Iraqi children are kept in two orphanages in Iraq's second largest city that was captured by Islamic State group militants in 2014 and liberated by U.S.-backed security forces last year after a nearly year-long battle. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
The Associated Press