IRAQ-CONFLICT

Iraqi military personnel look on as repair work is done on the al-Sarha bridge, which was destroyed a few days earlier by Islamic-State (IS) militants to prevent Iraqi government forces from going further in their counter-attack, on the main road between Baghdad and Kirkuk on the outskirts of Amerli on September 3, 2014. IS-led militants launched a lightning offencive in the north in June, sweeping through much of the Sunni Arab heartland north and west of Baghdad before turning on Christian and Yazidi areas. Iraqi security forces, now bolstered by thousands of Shiite militiamen as well as Kurdish fighters, have clawed back some ground northeast of Baghdad. AFP PHOTO/ AHMAD AL-RUBAYE (Photo credit should read AHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP via Getty Images)