Story highlights ISIS militants set wells on fire hoping to obscure the view of Iraqi and coalition warplanes

In one family's nearby house, everything is covered in soot: the walls, the floor and the furniture

Al-Qayyara, Iraq (CNN) "We cover the children at night when they sleep," said Khalil. His hands were stained black, the air in the entrance to his house thick with smoke.

Khalil, his wife and five children live but a minute's walk from a blazing oil well, one of more than a dozen ISIS has set alight in recent months.

His two-year-old son Obaida watched us warily. His bare feet were black, his face grimy with soot.

"We close all the windows and the doors to keep the smoke out," Khalil said, shrugging, adding "that's all we can do."

Khalil insisted his children are fine, but their gray pallor suggested otherwise.

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