MOSUL, Iraq — The bar, in eastern Mosul, is somewhat hidden, without a sign out front and curtains pulled, but a steady flow of customers trickled through its doors on a warm evening this month.

One group of men, drinking heavily and excited about where they were, explained that they were from Baghdad. “We are tourists,” one of them exclaimed.

Less than a year ago, Mosul emerged from the nearly nine-month battle to retake it from the Islamic State group.

Now, in many parts of the city, life is returning and the feeling of security is palpable. New businesses are open and people stay out late into the evening for the first time in years. There is a sense among people here that at last Mosul is unshackled from criminal gangs and hard-core Islamic factions.