Kainoa Little is a freelance photographer. She was in Mosul during the conflict and took these photos. Unfortunately she could not find anyone willing to purchase them so she is offering them up for free. She wants to help the people in the photos get exposure and attention for their sacrifice and hard work.

My name is Kainoa Little, and I am a Shoreline, Washington-based conflict photographer. I was in Mosul in April and May 2017, documenting Iraqi forces as they fought Islamic State militants to liberate the city.

I tried and failed to find newspapers and wire services who would purchase my photos. But the soldiers had fed me and given me a seat in their Humvees, and the refugees had tolerated my presence on some of the worst days of their lives. They very rightly expected that I would tell their story.

The worst uncertainty for me as a freelancer in conflict isn’t that I won’t be able to pay my rent; it’s that no one will see the story, and then I will have failed to give a voice to the voiceless. So I have tried to share them where I can, and hopefully people can imagine some of the human tragedy and triumph playing out in Mosul.

Some of the photos are of the Free Burma Rangers. They are a multi-ethnic humanitarian service movement working to bring help, hope and love to people in the conflict zones of Burma, Iraq, and Sudan. Working in conjunction with local ethnic pro-democracy groups, FBR trains, supplies, and later coordinates with what become highly mobile multipurpose relief teams. After training these teams provide critical emergency medical care, shelter, food, clothing and human rights documentation in their home regions.

Here are the photos with firearms in them.

Federal Police prepare for battle in the Old City. This machine gunner is organizing his ammo.

Federal Police enter a theater suspected of containing an explosive device as they try to take control of the block in the Old City.

Federal Police exchange fire with ISIS across the theater.

Federal Police enter a theater in the Old City. Seconds later, an Islamic State gunman opened fire from the upper rafters.

Federal Police in the theater.

A Federal Policeman takes fire from the other side of a theater. Several bullets impacted the other side of the wall near where he had been looking through a window.

Free Burma Rangers

You can check out Kainoa’s other photos here.