Iraqi Kurds mark Nowruz, celebrating light over darkness

Girls sit on a wall to get a good vantage point of people walking up the mountains with flaming torches and fireworks for Nowruz in Akre, the Kurdish region of Iraq on Friday.

In the Kurdish regions of the Middle East, Nowruz celebrations — honoring the arrival of spring — are a fundamental expression of Kurdish identity.

(Image credit: Claire Harbage)