Shell casings lie on the ground as Iraqi government forces gather around the Qayyarah airbase, which was seized by Iraqi forces last week from jihadists of the Islamic State (IS)group, on July 13, 2016, some 60 kilometres (35 miles) south of Mosul.
Iraqi forces are now training their sights on Mosul and pressing simultaneous operations from the south and the east of Qayyarah, a town in the Tigris valley they want to use as a launchpad for a full-fledged offensive on IS's de facto Iraqi capital. / AFP / Mahmoud al-Samarrai (Photo credit should read MAHMOUD AL-SAMARRAI/AFP/Getty Images)
