by MATT CETTI-ROBERTS

It’s springtime, and a group of Bedouin fighters in desert-pattern camouflage uniforms sing in a sprawling, lush field in northern Iraq.

In the middle of the group, three men dance and time their movements to the rhythm. The rest of the fighters surround them, singing and clapping in time.

Their cadences are illustrative of how the Bedouins’ traditions and nomadic way of life have endured for centuries. The melodies — primal and beautiful — hearken back to a previous age when life may have been simpler, but no less brutal.

Four-and-a-half miles away is the town of Basiqa, which is currently occupied by Islamic State. But these men are relaxing, having just finished a day training and preparing for combat against the extremist group.

The men are part of a new, mainly Sunni Arab army known as the national mobilization force. They’re also preparing to help retake Islamic State-held Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city which is just 13 miles away.

But unlike other forces which might take part in a battle for Mosul, these men call the city and the surrounding Nineveh province home.

For them, this war is personal.