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A new emphasis on law and order is having some impact on ordinary parts of civilian life: “We can’t even tip the men at the pumps in petrol stations, in case it’s read as a bribe to skip the fuel queue next time,” said Ahmed, a local resident.

The jihadists have worked hard to win the support of the local population by whatever means possible. For the past several years Mosul was kept on lockdown. As the jihadists from the then named Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) infiltrated the city, stultifying checkpoints were set up by the Iraqi government.

When they first arrived, the men loyal to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-appointed leader of the new Islamic State, removed these barriers.

“It doesn’t feel like Iraq any more. There is total freedom,” said one resident who, like all Mosul inhabitants spoken to by The Daily Telegraph, asked for his name not to be revealed for safety reasons. “We can park wherever we want. If this is what living in an Islamic State is like I don’t mind.”

The jihadists have used a softly softly approach, after a past attempt to establish an Islamic state failed when their new subjects rejected their extremist policies.

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Slowly however, the rules of the new state are being introduced.

When they first arrived in Mosul last month, the jihadists issued rule sheets – complete with an Islamic caliphate stamp – explaining that the city would be run by strict sharia and ordering women to cover up and to remain at home “unless absolutely necessary”.

Practices deemed irreligious by the men loyal to Baghdadi, such as pool and poker are slowly being stopped. This week snooker clubs were shut down across the city, residents told The Daily Telegraph.

Ahmed said: “Cigarettes have almost doubled in price. We are bulk buying because we think soon they will ban them.”