by MATT CETTI-ROBERTS

Our SUV passes ripe wheat fields swaying in the gentle breeze. The occasional signs poke out where the fields meet the highway warning travelers that Islamic State has planted improvised explosives along the road.

No one will harvest these fields for a long time.

We’re headed toward the front line in the city of Sinjar to meet Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. Islamic State stormed the northwestern Iraqi city in August and massacred the Yezidi residents. The militants looted the city of valuables and kidnapped thousands of women and girls — forcing them into slavery.

The residents who could escape fled to Mount Sinjar, home to the Yezidi people’s holiest shrines. The Yezidis held out on the mountain for months.

Kurdish fighters — backed by coalition air strikes — retook the mountain in December. But six months later, it’s painfully clear that Islamic State continues to menace the whole region.

To get to Sinjar city, we must first have to pass Mount Sinjar. The road there is long and straight, with much of its length running parallel to the Syrian border. It’s been several months since my last visit to the mountain.

Last time, getting there involved flying in an Iraqi air force helicopter. This time, the journey will be a bit more conventional.

The road passes through the outskirts of the devastated border city of Rabia and contains countless Peshmerga checkpoints. Many buildings visible from the road have collapsed — or bear the signs of damage from previous battles.