As you drive through northern Iraq near the border with Syria, you pass checkpoints every few miles or so. Manning these roadblocks are Kurdish fighters, wearing camouflage and body armor, carrying big guns.
Sometimes there are piles of dirt in the road to slow down traffic.
These Kurdish peshmerga fighters are beginning to reclaim some land from the self-proclaimed Islamic State, or ISIS, and people are beginning to return to their homes.
But the homecoming has proved harrowing for many.
Last month, Kurds brought in an earthmover to build a checkpoint near the village of Hardan.