IS fighters set oil wells on fire before fleeing.

[anatta]

Remember this from Saddam's day?
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The Iraqi military's recapture of Qayyara, along with a nearby airbase in July, is the latest and most significant advance in a U.S.-backed push to Mosul, the largest city under Islamic State control anywhere in its self-proclaimed caliphate.

Qayyara and its nearby airbase - where the bulk of a 560-strong U.S. troop reinforcement will be based - will form the main staging base for the anticipated offensive on Mosul, 60 km (35 miles) to the north.

Abdel Aziz Saleh, a 25-year-old Qayyara resident, said he wants Baghdad to put out the fires as soon as possible. "They are suffocating us," he said. "The birds, the animals are black, the people are black. Gas rains down on us at night. Now the gas has reached the residential areas."

There is no electricity, and daytime temperatures reach 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Unlike in other recently recaptured cities, IS fighters did not dig in, most buildings are intact, and there is little problem with booby traps. However, there is no telling when the oil well fires will be extinguished or the electricity restored.