What The Frontline Near The Islamic State Stronghold Of Mosul Looks Like

A 14.5mm ZPU-2 overlooks the Iraqi town of Gwer. (Jan 24, 2016. (Thomas Gibbons-Neff/The Washington Post)

Washington Post: Music videos and mortars: What the frontline near the ISIS stronghold of Mosul looks like

GWER, Iraq—The Peshmerga call it the Hill of the Doshka, named after the first heavy machine gun that once overlooked this lazy bend in the Great Zab river and the town below where the Kurds fought Saddam Hussein’s army in 2003.

Now the hill is taller, built up by excavators to fight the Islamic State and fortified with cinderblocks and sandbags and tin roofs. There is a TV now, wired to a satellite dish, and the Doskha is gone—replaced by a larger twin barrel anti-aircraft gun pointed towards the caliphate. When the weapon fires, it barks, and the shell casings are collected and wedged into the outpost’s walls and the fighters hang their Kalashnikovs from them.

It’s a Sunday and the Peshmerga have just finished lunch and their first tea. The TV is playing American music videos and the summer hit “Get Lucky” from the band Daft Punk is on. The DJ is having a hard time saying the band’s name when the first mortar lands.

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WNU Editor: 99.9% of the time boredom .... 0.1% terror. Yup .... sounds like the front-line.

Update: Inside the Kurdish fighting forces: the U.S.’s proxy ground troops in the war against ISIS (Washington Post).