December 3, 2014
Amirli, Salahuddin, Iraq
Cornas is a Shiite Turkmen village which ISIS took control over around one month ago. The residents say that ISIS burned and destroyed 80 houses in their village as well as a Shiite mosque. The Iraqi Army, with the help of fighters from the 'Saraya al-Salam' brigade retook the village.
Speakers:
Nour Edime Ali
Hajj Abbas
Hussein Khalil
28 August 2014, Tuz Khurmatu distance about 75 km south of Kirkuk. The Kurdish army launches a mortar to the city occupied by the militants of the Islamic State. The soldiers who were outside the base to help the peshmerga who had been sent on ahead, come back at the end of the fight. No deaths and no injuries.
28 August 2014, Tuz Khurmatu distance about 75 km south of Kirkuk. The Kurdish army launches a mortar to the city occupied by the militants of the Islamic State. The soldiers who were outside the base to help the peshmerga who had been sent on ahead, come back at the end of the fight. No deaths and no injuries.
Between cohabitation and turns the military are able to find moments of fun. Some soldiers playing dominoes in tents.
Every soldier doing his job harder. Many of them come from cities that have been invaded by the army of Islamic state. They perceive a salary and their work shifts are approximately 10 days.
The peshmerga now have become very important for Kurdistan. For following decades, have had a bad reputation as warriors unconquered of the mountains.
The soldiers during the breaks have to keep their weapons clean.
The kitchen where soldiers take turns for preparing dinner for the people in the frontline.
The young peshmerga fighters have no battle experience. Many of the older pesh merga moved on, starting businesses and embracing the changing face of Kurdistan.
When the light begins to decline many military take the time to call their families at home. A moment of intimacy in a military base full of men is not easy to find.
A Kurdish peshmerga prepares a cup of tea before starting his turn in the frontline against IS.
An officer of the frontline in a moment of pause. That day they discussed the situation about weapons sponsor by the European Union.
In the bases of the mountains there are instance Peshmerga professionals including many young people.
There is no exact number of peshmerga fighters. Both youth and adults are lined up against a single enemy. they took up arms under one banner of a united Kurdistan.
With the coming of night, the air becomes heavier on the frontline. With the darkness the Islamic Army has more ease in advancing position or try to attack the Kurdish army.
A moment of pause before the exchange with another soldier to control the aera under the frontline. A guy calls his family.
Peshmerga fighters on the front line against militants of IS. The base is close to Bashiqa village and Mosul. During the nights there are different movements of the Sunni guerrillas.
In the frontline of the mountain Bashiqa, two young Kurdish military are given the change of position. The control over the villages occupied by ISIS is constant.
Some young soldiers are shuttling between major base and a control tower. They bring food for dinner.
New men come into the frontline of the mountain Bashiqa. Probably ready to join in the Kurdish military. What remains to be seen is how long the pesh merga will be able to rely on the support of outsiders.
The mountain of Bashiqa is under the control of the Peshmerga. Is also the official name of the armed forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government in the semiautonomous Iraqi Kurdistan. After the continuous advance of the Islamic state Kurds maintained their positions of control.
Kurdish Peshmerga has strengthened its presence in Nineveh provinceâs. This area is currently disputed between Sunnis members of the Islamic state and the forces of both Kurdish and Iraqi.
Since Aug. 2, IS militants made forays into the peshmerga-controlled territories of the Ninevah plains. They moving into the towns of Hamdaiya, Telkayf, Bartalla and Bashiqa on the north and east of Mosul.
This guy on the frontline shows off his tattoo which is the symbol of P.U.K an Iraqi-Kurdish political party in Iraqi Kurdistan and YPG.
On the mountain of Bashiqa. Inside the base camp during the days the soldiers held only controlled the situation. While some boys are resting others prepare for nightfall.
Some soldiers sitting on the rocks looking over the town of Bashiqa. Lying just 18 kilometers from Mosul with two roads linking it to Iraq's most volatile city, Bashiqa and nearby villages in Nineveh provinces. They occupied the heart of Iraq's minority communities for centuries.
The government of Kurdistan has asked for help to other states to defeat the advance of the Islamic state. During the month of August some countries, among them Italy, have agreed to send weapons to the Kurds.
Many soldiers who are serving on the mountain of Bashiqa are very young. The average age is between 17 and 25 years.
Some moments of rest during the day. Below it is the city of Bashiqa and Mosul, now under control of IS.
T he European Union has started to give the Kurds shipments of ammunition, machine guns and mortars.
After recovering some land that had been invaded by ISIS. The Peshmerga have accepted and agreed with the help arrived from America with the bombing on the enemy positions.
After Iraqi forces have failed abandoning their position and shipments in Iraq, the stability has been reset with the military Kurds. They have given them greater power and control.
when the light begins to decline many military take the time to call their families at home. A moment of intimacy in a military base full of men is not easy to find.
Between the Kurdish army there are different faiths. Everyone is free to profess what he believes. Inside the camp was created an area for prayer.
A moment of intimacy in the frontline of the mountain Bashiqa. Two soldiers help to shave each other before taking their positions.
Tuz Khurmatu distance about 75 km south of Kirkuk. During the day of 28 August 2014 there was a firefight, about 3 hours, between IS and the Kurdish army. Peshmerga army sent on ahead a dozen men to evacuate a building occupied by the militants of Islamic State. The two sides are at a distance from each other about 100 meters.
28 August 2014, Tuz Khurmatu distance about 75 km south of Kirkuk. There was a firefight between IS and the Kurdish army.
28 August 2014, Tuz Khurmatu distance about 75 km south of Kirkuk. There was a firefight between IS and the Kurdish army.
28 August 2014, Tuz Khurmatu distance about 75 km south of Kirkuk. The Kurdish army launches a mortar to the city occupied by the militants of the Islamic State.
28 August 2014, Tuz Khurmatu distance about 75 km south of Kirkuk. The Kurdish army launches a mortar to the city occupied by the militants of the Islamic State.