Mosul artist who hid paintings from IS thrives again When the Islamic State group took Mosul by storm in 2014, turning Iraq’s second city into their stronghold, artist Khalif Mahmoud had to think fast, stashing his paintings and drawings inside a wall of his house, knowing they would be destroyed if the jihadists found them. After the city was prized from the IS group's clutches last July, he returned home… and found his art works intact right where he’d left them. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES