The GUNS OF AUGUST

Inside the Kurdish-Islamic State war

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters keep watch near the town of Makhmur, south of Erbil, after the withdrawal of Islamic State insurgents

Kurdish Peshmerga fighters keep watch near the town of Makhmur, south of Erbil, after the withdrawal of Islamic State insurgents

(photo credit: YOUSSEF BOUDLAL / REUTERS)

ByJONATHAN SPYER

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 15:44