In the northern Iraqi town of Teleskof, Christians celebrated New Year for the first time in three years, finally safe from Islamic State.
The militant Islamic State group overran Teleskof in 2016 and forcibly displaced its 12,000-strong Chaldean Christian community.
It was a story repeated across the Nineveh plain - faced with a choice to convert, pay a tax or die, many Christians opted to flee. Most sought refuge in nearby towns and cities, but many found permanent asylum abroad.
Though the militants were only in Teleskof for a few days, residents only began returning home earlier this year.
On Sunday, they celebrated their first New Year together again at the town's main church, which was overflowing.
Iraqis rang in the New Year with fireworks that lit Baghdad's skyline as the country marked its first New Year in three years without Islamic State.
Islamic State militants had captured vast swaths of territory in the north and west of the country in 2014.
REUTERS
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