The University of Mosul is a public university located in Mosul. It is one of the largest educational and research centers in the Middle East, and the second largest in Iraq, behind the University of Baghdad. The University of Mosul was closed by the ISIL group in 2014 but reopened just after a few months with new buildings and courses. Over 8,000 books and 100,000 manuscripts in its library were believed to have been destroyed. The university was considered to have been used as a base by ISIS and was hit by Combined Joint Task Force airstrikes in March 2016. Iraqi forces recaptured it in January 2017. Academic program The University of Mosul was founded in April 1967, building on the foundations of the 1929 College of Medicine, under the control of the Ministry of Health. The university was established to be an academic center of higher education in Mosul city and Iraq. Today the university offers accredited bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees in more than 100 scientific specializations. More than 80,000 students have graduated since the foundation of the university. Under ISIL When the Islamic State captured the city of Mosul during the 2014 Northern Iraq Offensive, the university was shut down and looted. When it was reopened under their control that year, the only fields of study permitted were medicine, dentistry, nursing, and pharmacy. The university was used as a base by ISIL, with certain buildings being used as barracks and manufacturing facilities for weaponry. Many of the chemistry laboratories were used for the production of chemical weapons, and some were left booby-trapped when the city was retaken by Iraqi forces in 2017. Over 8,000 books and 100,000 manuscripts in its library were believed to have been destroyed. The university reopened in March 2017 with some buildings still under construction. Medical College The medical college is located in the Medical Township which includes the Teaching Hospitals in Al-Shifaa Court, Mosul City, Iraq. The College of Medicine was the first established College of what is now the University of Mosul, founded in 1959 and initially affiliated with the Department of Health and subsequently with the University of Baghdad. In April 1967 and with the establishment of the University of Mosul, the college became part of University of Mosul. The Undergraduate program in the Medical College is six years and the language of instruction is English. The college grants doctorate