Thousands of people who lived for the past two years under the rule of the militants have begun to escape their villages as a huge Iraqi force closes in on the northern city of Mosul, free now to tell their stories of brutality and privation and near-death escapes.

Most, though, are Sunni Muslims, unable to celebrate just yet as they face questions from the authorities and the country at large about their years living alongside the Sunni militants, as well as any ties to the jihadists, whether real or just perceived.

Their treatment by the Shiite-led government in the current campaign is seen as crucial to rebuilding Sunni trust in the state, which plummeted so low two years ago that some Sunnis welcomed the militants to their towns, cities and villages.

In other areas captured from the Islamic State, though, men and boys have sometimes faced months of screening, with human rights groups also reporting incidents of execution, torture and arbitrary arrest by the country’s array of militias and security forces.