As the news about the ISIS attacks in Iraq have spread around the world, Swedish Kurd filmmaker Hogir Hirori decided to say goodbye to his pregnant wife and travel back to Kurdistan. His father has joined the Peshmerga forces desperately trying to tackle the growing threat of the Islamic State. Hogir wants to see for himself the reality of the growing crisis behind the statistics being reported at home in Europe.

Along a dusty roadside, the young, the old and the helpless sit, waiting for some kind of help to arrive. Fear and despair are written on their shocked faces. "One guy screamed for help. His wife had died of starvation. Her baby was still suckling from her breast. It cannot get worse", says one refugee before dissolving into tears. Lying under a disused tanker, a small 10-year-old girl whimpers in pain, the remnants of a hospital drip still taped to the back of her hand. Asked where her parents are, she replies, "I don't know. I was dizzy and vomiting". In the chaos there are thousands of stories like this. Besma had been married only 2 days when ISIS raided her village, forcing everyone to flee. "Women and children are sold at markets", she says in horror. 22-year-old Yizidin Amira was pregnant when she was abducted by ISIS. "Many women were forced to take pills. We were tortured until we converted." She was sold to a man for 14,000 dinar but managed to escape with her newborn son.

Peshmerga forces are doing their best to stem the tide of the Islamic State forces, but the central government in Baghdad has not been supplying funds and international help has been sporadic. The pressure on the Kurds is growing rapidly. For those men fighting the Caliphate there is a real terror of capture. Recently, 250 captured Syrian soldiers were forced to undress before being shot dead one by one. Meanwhile, thousands of fleeing Christians have crossed the border between Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan. At the crossing local Kurds hand out water and shoes to the constant stream of refugees. "They are our guests and brethren. I left my job to assist", says a local worker. "Give us weapons. Women can also fight", shouts one female refugee. Surrounded by a tight huddle of other traumatised women she explains, "They kidnapped three of my children. We want to fight for the children and elderly in the hands of ISIS".

In the attempt to quash the cruelty of the Caliphate, old enemies have come together in a complicated dynamic. They face not a guerrilla movement, but a well-financed and efficient organisation. And as those at the heart of the maelstrom desperately seek a clear strategy, their despair grows daily.

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