Yazidi refugees from Sinjar arrive at Newroz refugee camp in Syria's autonomous Kurdish region in August 2014. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
Syrian Kurdish activists throw food to Yazidi refugees as they arrive in Syria after a dangerous trek through the IS-held desert last August. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
A member of the Kurdish peshmerga remonstrates with a colleague at a base located not far from the foot of Mount Sinjar, just after the peshmerga had retreated from the mountain as IS overran the surrounding areas in August 2014. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
Syrian Kurdish fighters greet a Yazidi guide deep in the Iraqi desert last August. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
Syrian Kurdish fighters from the YPG secure a precarious humanitarian corridor through the IS-held desert for Yazidi refugees from Sinjar in August. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
A peshmerga anti-aircraft gun is fired down at IS positions in Sinjar in March 2015. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
A peshmerga warrant officer inspects an abandoned IS IED factory in Sinjar in March. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
The scene from Hardan, Iraq, in March. IS took thousands of captured Yazidi women as sex slaves. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
November's offensive to retake Sinjar was covered by both international and local media. The reclaiming of the city was a key moment in the battle against IS. Pictured here is a host from local station Kurdistan TV standing in front of a group of peshmerga fighters warming themselves by a fire on November 11. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
A convoy of Kurdish peshmerga snake towards the city of Sinjar on November 12. Progress was slow due to the belief that a large number of IEDs had been placed along the route by IS. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
Peshmerga artillery prepare to fire at villages surrounding Sinjar. In an attempt to clear the route ahead they made repeated stops to set up and fire on IS positions on November 12. Mortars landed close to the convoy on a number of occasions and it was often unclear what direction they were coming from. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
A Peshmerga fighter conducts his daily prayers. In the background, smoke billows from an IS-held town under attack. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
A peshmerga fighter parades a flag from an IS position on November 12. Captured on the edge of Sinjar, this position was located on Highway 47, a road connecting the city with Tel Afar, where IS has more support and resources. Cutting off this route would disrupt supply lines between IS forces in Syria and Iraq, dealing a major blow to their efforts. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
A peshmerga engineering unit prepares an armored vehicle for the final push into Sinjar on November 13. IEDs have caused a huge number of casualties in the fight against IS. The day before this photo was taken, four members of this engineering unit where killed by an explosive device as they pushed towards Sinjar. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
Peshmerga fighters on Highway 47 ready themselves to push into Sinjar on November 13. As the convoy moved into the city, one fighter decided to use a motorbike as his preferred mode of transport. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
A Kurdish fighter sits among the rubble in the center of Sinjar. The battle for the city had been long and hard, but most of the fighting actually happened earlier, and by the time the convoys arrived many of the remaining IS fighters had fled, leaving only a few snipers, suicide bombers, and IEDs. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
Members of the YPG push a heavy machine gun captured from IS back to their base in Sinjar on November 13. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
An IS flag painted on the wall of a destroyed building inside Sinjar. The city may have been liberated but it is almost completely destroyed. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
Peshmerga fighters drive a Humvee through the center of Sinjar, as a member of the YPG look on. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
YPG members gather in the center of Sinjar. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)
Holes made by mortars and other explosives litter a soccer pitch inside Sinjar. (Photo by Frederick Paxton)