2017 in pictures: Iraq and Syria's battle against Isis in 100 powerful images

Islamic State (Daesh/Isis) lost its major strongholds in Iraq and Syria in 2017, at an enormous cost to local people and infrastructure. Mosul, the group's de facto capital in Iraq, fell in July after a gruelling nine-month campaign that saw much of the city destroyed. Raqqa, the group's de facto Syrian capital, was finally liberated in September.

In early December 2017, Iraqi forces recaptured the last areas of the country still under Isis control, marking the end of the war against the militants three years after they had captured about a third of Iraq's territory. As the year draws to a close, the jihadists are on the back foot in Syria, with government forces backed by Russian fire power closing in on them and one side, while Kurdish-led SDF fighters attack on another flank.

IBTimes UK looks back at how the fight to rid Iraq and Syria of the jihadists played out across the year, in 100 powerful photos.