Al-Qaida turns to mafia tactics in Mosul

The street emptied at the sound of gunfire, the men scattering in separate directions. A corpse was left behind, the lone victim of the shooting. After a few hours, someone covered its face with a sheet of paper - a gesture of respect for the dead. This is Mosul, my home. Since 2003, I have worked as a reporter here, mainly for local newspapers. Stories of murder and abduction are part of my routine. Al-Qaeda still thrives in my city, long after it was driven underground in other parts of the country. Once a pillar of the local insurgency, the group - also known as the Islamic State of Iraq - now operates as a mafia, funding itself through extortion and blackmail. Though deeply unpopular, its reputation for ruthlessness has also made it very powerful. Unlike other insurgent groups, al-Qaeda never restricted itself to fighting the Americans. Right from the start, it showed it was ready to kill Iraqis too. At the height of the conflict in 2005, the group frequently abducted large groups of men. Hours later, their decapitated bodies would be dumped in the street. The severed head would be balanced on top of the corpse, often alongside a DVD containing footage of the beheading.