A BRADFORD aid worker who has recently returned from war-torn Mosul has said it was the toughest humanitarian trip he has ever taken part in.

Nazim Ali, 38, took part in the trip to Mosul in Iraq do deliver much needed food supplies to citizens of the city during the Ramadan period.

During the trip, he had to contend with car bombs and hearing the harrowing stories of families destroyed by war which has ravaged the city for the past decade.

Mr Ali, from Manningham, visited as part of a nine-person team with the Human Relief Foundation charity and handed over tens of thousands of pounds of food to Iraqi refugees displaced by war.

Mosul was the de-facto capital of ISIS’s caliphate for three years, and under the terrorist group’s brutal regime thousands of civilians were killed and people were forced to eat cats and dogs due to food shortages.

Mr Ali, who has been taking part in aid trips for the past five years, and has raised thousands of pounds for local and international charities, said he was horrified at the devastation he saw when he arrived in Mosul.

He said: “It is estimated 10,000 to 12,000 civilians were killed during the battle against ISIS.

“This figure is an conservative estimate as it is believed many more have died. This was the largest urban conflict since World War Two which caused total devastation.

“I was shocked at the magnitude of the sheer destruction in Western (Old City) Mosul - it was reminiscent of the pictures I had seen of WW2 destruction in Stalingrad, Coventry and Dresden.

“There was rubble for miles on end, once bustling shopping areas looked more like ghost towns and people were living amidst the rubble and in unstable buildings.

“Hundreds of years old Masjids and Churches were nothing more than rubble and a shadow of their former glory.

“Every family I met lost family members either at the hands of ISIS or during war. Families broke down in floods of tears as they told us they were forced to eat cats, dogs, horses and even had to buy grass to survive due to the scarcity of food.”

Getting into Mosul proved tricky for Mr Ali due to the re-emergence of ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

He added: “Due to Al Baghdadi making a rare video appearance after three years last week, on the eve of my aid trip, there was heightened tension and security on the ground.

“I was refused entry into Mosul by the Iraqi army at the checkpoint due to my beard and was asked to trim it.

“Eventually the next day I met with an official and I was able to enter Mosul with him.

“There was a bombing near my accommodation in Eastern Mosul in which two civilians were injured and several arrests of ISIS fighters was made while I was on the ground. It is said several ISIS sleeper cells are still operating in the city.

“In short, this aid trip was fraught with many tests and challenges and I did not once waver in my resolve to help the refugees.

“When you visit war zones there is always that risk element. Suffice to say this was one of my hardest aid visits and it will take me some time to digest all that I saw and heard.”