Sharjah24 – AFP: In Iraq's vast western desert, some 200 families live in a hamlet largely cut off from the rest of the world, their only neighbour one of the country's biggest military bases.
Lost in rocky hills and surrounded by humble palm groves, Al-Sahl is around 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of the capital Baghdad.
Yet the closest hospital is more than half an hour's drive away along a bumpy road, the only education facility is a primary school, and residents rely on livestock and farming to survive.
To communicate with the outside world, people use old mobile phones instead of smartphones -- the 3G network doesn't reach here.
Iraq is the second-biggest producer in the OPEC oil cartel, yet the country has been ravaged by decades of war and endemic corruption, and blighted by ailing infrastructure and crumbling public services.
Around a third of Iraq's 40-million population lives in poverty, according to the United Nations, with the coronavirus pandemic and the fall in crude prices last year aggravating the situation.
In Al-Sahl, small, almost windowless houses with iron doors line deserted alleys, occasionally punctuated by an old passing car or livestock in wire-fenced enclosures.
Pumps draw salty water from wells. Residents said they used the water unfiltered for drinking and washing, and for their animals, while Abu Majid said rainwater was used for farming.
The village has preserved an insular culture and conservative traditions.
Even with the frequent blackouts that vex Iraqis in other parts of the country, the dilapidated national power grid is seen as out-of-reach luxury in Al-Sahl.
Residents instead rely on run-down generators for a few hours of power a day.
The village is just around 10 kilometres from the Ain al-Asad airbase, one of the country's largest. The base hosts US troops and is regularly the target of rocket fire.
The village has no connections to the base, though its proximity can present challenges.
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