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In Pictures

Gallery|ISIL/ISIS

Sinjar in the aftermath of ISIL

Although the town has been recaptured by Kurdish forces, many Sinjar residents are still wary of returning.

Sinjar /DO NOT USE/ RESTRICTED
Peshmerga fighters search for improvised explosive devices on the roof of a destroyed house in Sinjar. [Hawre Khalid/Al Jazeera]
By Hawre Khalid
Published On 20 Nov 201520 Nov 2015
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Sinjar, Iraq – After more than a year of being under the control of fighters with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Sinjar was recaptured this month by Kurdish fighters backed by US-led coalition air strikes.

Since ISIL arrived in Sinjar last year, the town has been decimated, with scores of Yazidi residents killed, enslaved or forced to flee. Many are eager to come back, but they remain wary of improvised explosive devices and other booby traps that ISIL might have laid.

Despite the danger, some residents have ventured back to collect their belongings or check on the status of their homes and businesses.

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Peshmerga fighters walk around the Sinjar market. [Hawre Khalid/Al Jazeera]
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Sinjar /DO NOT USE/ RESTRICTED
This building was used by ISIL fighters to make improvised explosive devices before the retake of Sinjar by Kurdish forces. [Hawre Khalid/Al Jazeera]
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ISIL has been expelled, but the town's southern outskirts are still within the reach of mortars fired from villages still under ISIL's control. [Hawre Khalid/Al Jazeera]
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ISIL is believed to be present just five or six kilometres south of Sinjar. [Hawre Khalid/Al Jazeera]
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Assisted by US-led coalition air strikes, the Peshmerga were able to rapidly breach ISIL's defences. [Hawre Khalid/Al Jazeera]
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According to the Kurdish Regional Security Council, about 7,500 Peshmerga fighters closed in on the mountain town from three fronts in an effort to cut off ISIL supply lines. [Hawre Khalid/Al Jazeera]
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Much of the town has been decimated. [Hawre Khalid/Al Jazeera]
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A Yazidi man recovers items from his damaged shop in the Sinjar market. [Hawre Khalid/Al Jazeera]
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Kurdish fighters carry an improvised explosive device found in one of the homes. They are bringing it to their base to be disarmed. [Hawre Khalid/Al Jazeera]
Sinjar /DO NOT USE/ RESTRICTED
A Yazidi civilian fighter walks between destroyed buildings in the Sinjar market. [Hawre Khalid/Al Jazeera]


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