ERBIL, Iraq — Surrounded by a sea of dry fields, the Baharka refugee camp in northern Iraq looks exactly as one might imagine: dusty, poor and swept daily by scorching winds. Most of the souls wandering around with the sun at its peak and the heat overwhelming are careless children whose smiles are a reminder that rubbish also can make a fitting soccer ball. From time to time, when duty calls, a man in a dark green uniform also steps outside his tent.

Sahad Hala has just shaved. He is not supposed to report to the front line for another week, but recent clashes near his military base, less than 2 miles from an Islamic State (IS) position, might force him to deploy sooner than scheduled. He is prepared, just in case he gets the call. At first glance, Hala could be mistaken for a member of the camp's security team, but someone guarding a camp of tents provided by the UN refugee agency is unlikely to need his razor at work.

Since IS’ military breakthroughs last summer, an estimated 1.8 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq and refugees from Syria have fled to safety in Iraqi Kurdistan. Near Erbil, the capital of this autonomous region, the Baharka camp shelters nearly 4,000 people, mainly from Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, but also from the Christian stronghold of Qaraqosh. After these cities fell to IS between June and August 2014, white tents and makeshift shelters became home for 731 families who fled, sometimes overnight.

Among the teachers, electricians and greengrocers, Baharka has also welcomed at least a dozen members of the peshmerga, the military forces of Iraqi Kurdistan. For these homeless soldiers, the war against Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s organization and self-proclaimed caliphate became personal when the jihadis took their city. “We want Mosul back,” Hala bluntly told Al-Monitor. Since the beginning of the conflict, the 45-year-old Kurdish officer from Qaraqosh has served at Bashiqa Mountain, a base overlooking IS-held territories in Mosul.