Inside are tattered curtains, crumbling walls and torn up floors. Outside is a near ghost town.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
Five stools stand on tables in a small restaurant, put there by staff after the last meat dish was cleared. A few streets away mannequins are on display in a fashion shop.
This is western Mosul, a place of narrow streets and small shops as commonplace are those found from Marrakesh to Cairo to Istanbul.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
That's if it wasn't for the gun shots fired by Iraqi policemen targeting Islamic State fighters a few hundreds metres (yards) away. Government forces have evicted the Sunni Muslim militants from much of the city, Iraq's second largest, but not here in the west.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
Restaurants, internet cafes, women's fashion shops, photo studios, pharmacies and apartments have been left abandoned by occupants who had fled to U.N. camps or found shelter with relatives in eastern Mosul, which is fully control by government forces.
Many shops have been looted, such as the state telecoms office which still advertises internet packages in frontage riddled by bullet holes.
Some places look normal, such as a kebab restaurant left in orderly fashion after staff closed up. Menus on the wall still offered dishes starting from 500 Iraqi dinars ($.043).
Elsewhere, a shop's window display now consists of army-issued plastic food boxes. Soldiers, camping out on mats, are only occupants.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
Walking the abandoned streets of Mosul these days is no gentle stroll: you hurry cross any street to escape snipers. Soldiers have put up blankets on windows or narrow street openings near the frontline to hide movements from the enemy.
Inside the buildings it's often eerily quiet as walls muffle the gunfire, the constant background noise. Something moves - is it the wind or something far more deadly?
But you are not totally alone, even without the military.
Amid these deserted streets there are still some signs of civilian life. A handful residents refuse to leave despite the proximity of the frontline.
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Slideshow
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
Empty cupboards are seen inside an abandoned house.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
A sink is seen in an abandoned house.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
Interior of an empty museum.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
A rusted car is seen from inside an abandoned house.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
Mechanical parts hang on a wall in an abandoned workshop.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
Mannequins lie on shelves in an abandoned shop.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
A clock hangs on a wall at an abandoned restaurant.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
A broken window is seen inside an abandoned house used by the Iraqi Federal Police.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
Wires hang in front of a destroyed shop.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
Food containers lie on a windowsill of a shop damaged during fighting.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
Debris and garbage lie on the ground in front of an entrance of damaged houses.
. Mosul, Iraq. Reuters/Andres Martinez Casares
A flag of Iraq is seen outside a house on a street controlled by Iraqi Federal Police.