isis was driven out of nineveh province in november 2016. salih and a colleague, faisal jaber, investigated and reported on the destruction of christian sites in the province. next, salih was tasked with examining the scale of the damage wrought on the monuments in nimrud. at the time, she was the only antiquities official able to survey the scene, as nearly 50 other iraqi archaeologists remained trapped in isis-controlled mosul. salih estimated that about 60 percent of the site was irredeemable, but she also felt that because a lot of the wreckage remained on location, much could be restored. a joint committee of unesco and the governor of nineveh agreed to reinstate funding for a rebuilding of the site. but the monuments and ruins remained unprotected, and open to looters. salih asked the iraqi militias to preserve as much of nimrud as possible.