TOPSHOTS A Kurdish Peshmerga fighters detonate a land mine laid by the Islamic State (IS) group fighters on the front line in the Gwer district, 40 kilometres south of Arbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region in northern Iraq, on October 18, 2014. In Iraqi the Kurds have been in the firing line of the IS offencive launched on June 9 after the Iraqi army collapsed, and are currently receiving Western aid, with deliveries of weapons, while also being supported by US and French air strikes. AFP PHOTO/ SAFIN HAMED