TOPSHOTS Iraqi families fleeing Islamic State (IS) group advance in their towns arrive to take refuge in a Kurdish-controlled area in Mullah Abdullah, some 25 kms west of Kirkuk, on October 15, 2014. Kurdish and Iraqi forces fought to hold back advancing jihadists on the Syria-Turkey border and near Baghdad as Washington pushed to rally its allies against the Islamic State group. IS has seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq, declaring a "caliphate" in June and imposing its harsh interpretation of Islamic sharia law. AFP PHOTO/MARWAN IBRAHIM