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Late last week, Iraqi Kurdish militias, backed by a U.S.-led air campaign, launched an assault to retake the town of Sinjar in northern Iraq. The Islamic State's capture of Sinjar in August of 2014 left many people dead, and caused tens of thousands of Yazidis to flee into the neighboring mountains.

Thousands of Kurdish Peshmerga and Yazidi fighters entered Sinjar last Thursday after the airstrikes. Yazidis celebrated the news, but photographs show that months of warfare have left little of the town standing intact.

Kurdish forces are now taking efforts to set up a wide buffer zone to try and protect Sinjar from future attacks.

Smoke believed to be from an airstrike billows over the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar on November 12, 2015.

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter pauses during an operation to retake the Iraqi town of Sinjar.

Kurdish forces take part in an operation backed by US-led strikes in the town of Sinjar, to retake the town from ISIS and cut a key supply line to Syria.

Heavy smoke covers the town of Sinjar during an operation by Kurdish forces.

A Kurdish Peshmerga soldier passes by tires set afire days before by ISIS extremists to hinder airstrikes.

A Kurdish soldier passes through the rubble of a Sinjar neighborhood.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces and fighters from the Yazidi minority, enter the town of Sinjar, on November 13, 2015.

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters enter the town of Sinjar.

A house burns on November 15, 2015, in Sinjar, Iraq.

Former Yazidi resident Khalaf Halti, 62, walks through the rubble of his neighborhood.

People remove household goods from the rubble of their town as a house burns on November 15, 2015, in Sinjar, Iraq.

A Peshmerga soldier aims a Milan anti-tank missile towards an ISIS position, as a bulldozer builds berms and trenches on the new front line.

A Peshmerga soldier walks past the rubble of a neighborhood.

Peshmerga forces take positions on November 15, 2015, in Sinjar, Iraq.

A family photo album sits in the rubble of a home in Sinjar, Iraq.

A deflated soccer ball lies next to a building hit by an airstrike.

A Kurdish Peshmerga fighter flashes the victory sign as he walks through the town of Sinjar after it was retaken from ISIS, on November 13, 2015.

Peshmerga forces patrol on November 15, 2015, in Sinjar, Iraq.

Yazidi refugees celebrate news of the liberation of their homeland town of Sinjar from ISIS extremists, while at a refugee camp in Derek, Rojava, Syria, on November 13, 2015.

Yazidi refugees celebrate news of the liberation of Sinjar.

Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani announces the liberation of the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar from ISIS during a press conference held on the outskirts of the town, on November 13, 2015.

Former Yazidi resident Khalaf Halti, 62, walks through the rubble of his neighborhood on November 15, 2015, in Sinjar, Iraq.

Yazidi female soldiers cheer for a fallen comrade near Sinjar, Iraq.

A Peshmerga enters a former ISIS tunnel in Sinjar, Iraq.

Kurdish Peshmerga show what they say is a mass grave of more than 50 Yazidis killed by ISIS, on November 15, 2015, in Sinjar.