Two years of anti-IS airstrikes have redrawn the Iraqi map

MAKHMOUR, IRAQ: Two years ago, the US-led coalition dropped the first airstrikes on the Islamic State group, ushering in a deeper phase of intervention that dramatically changed the fight against the militant group in Iraq. Since then, more than 9,400 coalition airstrikes have allowed Iraqi forces to slowly claw back cities, towns, supply lines and infrastructure. But the fight, which continues to be largely waged from the air has also leveled entire neighborhoods, displaced millions and redrawn the Iraqi map. The US-led coalition estimates that since the airstrikes began on Aug 8, 2014, IS has lost more than 40 percent of the territory it once held in Iraq. But while coalition airstrikes...