QAYYARA- It gets darker earlier these days in the northern Iraqi town of Qayyara, which ISIS militants abandoned about a week ago after setting fire to many of the region's oil wells.
Smoke billowing into the sky during a Reuters visit on Monday blotted out the sun in central districts hours before nightfall, producing an apocalyptic scene in this desert settlement which lacks electricity amid 49 degree Celsius (120°F) temperatures.
The Iraqi military's recapture of Qayyara, along with a nearby airbase in July, is the latest and most significant advance in a US-backed push to Mosul, the largest city under ISIS control anywhere in its self-proclaimed caliphate.