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Story January 11, 2016

Iraq: Pictures from the Front Lines

Country:

Iraq

Author:

Moises Saman
Grantee

English

This year, a force comprised of Iraqi soldiers, Iranian-backed militias, Kurdish peshmerga, and...

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Sunni fighters who oppose the Islamic State take up formation along the front line near the ISIS-controlled village of Haj Ali, south of Mosul. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

“I can’t take it anymore!” a young Sunni ﬁghter near Mosul said, tears streaking his face. “They’re killing our families ﬁfteen minutes away from here! We sit here and stare at the other side and hear the news, and there’s nothing we can do.” Image by Moises Saman. Iraq, 2015.

Sinjar, a town in northwestern Iraq, was devastated by air strikes. Above, a man carries a Teddy bear from the wreckage of a house. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

A resident of Sinjar inspects what’s left of his house. ISIS burned several buildings in the town and blew up three churches.Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

Nazhan Sakhar Salman, a leader of a prominent Sunni tribe, is fighting on the front line south of Mosul. “The men are not happy,” he said. “We don’t understand why we’re still here.” Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

A pickup truck carrying Yazidi fighters drives through the rubble-strewn streets of Sinjar days after the city was recaptured from the Islamic State. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

Sandbags at a Kurdish defensive position by the entrance of Snooni, a Kurdish town in the foothills of the Sinjar Mountains. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

Sunni fighters who oppose the Islamic State take positions at the front line near the ISIS-controlled village of Haj Ali, south of Mosul. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

The body of a dead Islamic State fighter, partially covered by a blanket, lies amid the rubble of a destroyed building. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

Sunni fighters deployed to the front line have waited for orders for nearly a year while their families remain trapped in ISIS-held territory. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

Kurdish fighters sit by a fire in the village of Domiz, a front-line position on the southern outskirts of Sinjar. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

A Kurdish fighter stands in Sinjar, which was badly damaged by heavy fighting and American air strikes that targeted the Islamic State. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

Kurdish fighters on the western front along Highway 47, on the outskirts of Sinjar. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

A Kurdish fighter inspects a tunnel dug by Islamic State fighters near the northern entrance of Sinjar. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

Kurdish fighters from the Zeravani Brigade reinforce a front-line position on the southern edge of Sinjar, near the ISIS-controlled town of Kabusiya. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

Shivan Rasho Hussein (third from right) sits among family members as he recounts how one of his daughters was captured by the Islamic State and married off to one of its fighters. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

Kurdish fighters patrol the old bazaar in Sinjar, days after the city was recaptured from the Islamic State. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

A Kurdish fighter walks through heavy fog in the Sinjar Mountains. Image by Moises Saman/Magnum Photos. Iraq, 2015.

Photojournalist Moises Saman spent time with Kurdish fighters and others after they reclaimed Sinjar, a former ISIS stronghold in Iraq. Saman was in Iraq with journalist Luke Mogelson for a report in The New Yorker on efforts to reclaim territory captured by ISIS.