A view of Aleppo on Wednesday showed smoke rising after shelling on neighborhoods in the Old City: photo by George Ourfalian/Agence France-Presse, 7 December 2016

A view of Aleppo on Wednesday showed smoke rising after shelling on neighborhoods in the Old City: photo by George Ourfalian/Agence France-Presse, 7 December 2016

Syrian civilians, in eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo retaken by government forces, return to their homes on Thursday under "military supervision": photo by George Ourfalian/Agence France-Presse, 8 December 2016

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Syrian civilians, in eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo retaken by government forces, return to their homes on Thursday under "military supervision": photo by George Ourfalian/Agence France-Presse, 8 December 2016

Men ride a tricycle as they flee deeper into the remaining rebel-held areas of Aleppo, Syria: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters, 7 December 2016

46 Civilians killed in East #Aleppo, 230 injured half of them faced suffocation because of 2 Chlorine Gas attack 160 air raids 1200 shells: image via Ahmad Alkhatib @AhmadAlkhtiib, 8 December 2016

#syria pro-government forces manoeuver a tank in the retaken area of Sahat al-Melh and Qasr al-Adly in #Aleppo #AFP Photo George Ourfalian: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 December 2016

#Russian aircraft carrier Admiral #Kuznetsov, less than 1 km from the shores of #Tartus #IRTSyria: image via IRT @InsRepTeam, 8 December 2016

#Russian jets targeted by Phosphor bombs the village of Kafar Karmin in the west countryside of #Aleppo: image via Ahmad Alkhatib @AhmadAlkhtiib, 7 December 2016

The last Goodbye for #Alshaar neighborhood before #Assad forces take control on it #Aleppo: image via Ahmad Alkhatib @AhmadAlkhtiib, 7 December 2016

#Assad forces in Qadi Asker - Bab Al-Haded after taken control early this morning in East #Aleppo: image via Ahmad Alkhatib @AhmadAlkhtiib, 7 December 2016

#Aleppo today #IRT: image via IRT @InsRepTeam, 8 December 2016

Fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria inside the medieval citadel of Aleppo on Wednesday: photo by George Ourfalian/Agence France-Presse, 7 December 2016

Fighters loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria inside the medieval citadel of Aleppo on Wednesday: photo by George Ourfalian/Agence France-Presse, 7 December 2016

A picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Ramouseh, a government controlled area of Aleppo, Syria December 8, 2016. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki

A picture of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad is seen in Ramouseh, a government controlled area of Aleppo, Syria: photo by Omar Sanadiki/Reuters, 8 December 2016

A bull shark swims at the Ocearium in Le Croisic, western France, on December 6, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / LOIC VENANCELOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images

A bull shark swims at the Ocearium in Le Croisic, western France: photo by Loic Venance/AFP, 7 December 2016

A member of the Syrian government forces inspects a post used by the rebels in the newly captured Al-Safa neighbourhood of Aleppo on December 7, 2016. Rebels in Aleppo called for a five-day truce and the evacuation of civilians Wednesday after losing more than three quarters of their territory including the Old City to a Syrian army offensive.

A member of the Syrian government forces inspects a post used by the rebels in the newly captured Al-Safa neighbourhood of Aleppo: photo by George Ourfalian/AFP, 7 December 2016

Residents fleeing the violence in eastern Aleppo on Wednesday: photo by George Ourfalian/Agence France-Presse, 7 December 2016

Residents fleeing the violence in eastern Aleppo on Wednesday: photo by George Ourfalian/Agence France-Presse, 7 December 2016

The Jewel of Kashmir

Le joyau du Cachemire qui permet à un photographe d' @AFP d'oublier les conflits #environment @AFPMakingof: image via Making-of AFP @AFPMakingof, 6 December 2016

The Jewel of Kashmir: Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 7 December 2016

Srinagar - I regularly go around the Dal Lake. It is a place where I am at peace, whatever the season. It is located on the edge of the capital of Kashmir, at the western tip of the Himalayas.

A boat passes in front of snow-covered mountains, on the Dal Lake, in Srinagar on January 1, 2011.

Dal Lake at the base of the foothills of the Himalayas: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, January 2011

The lake is a "jewel in the crown of Kashmir", according to the formula. It is a place where silence is king. Particularly in the autumn, when the fog spreads over it.

It allows me to pause in the coverage of the clashes between the Kashmiri separatists and the Indian army.

A Kashmiri fisherman rows his boat on Dal Lake at sunset on a cold, winter day in Srinagar on November 23, 2016.

A fisherman on the lake: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 23 November 2016

There are three lakes in fact, Dal, Nagin and Anchar. The most famous is the first, the largest. It is surrounded by magnificent trees, weeping willows and huge plane trees.

In places the lake is covered with lotus, which the peasants collect for feeding livestock.

Kashmiri women carry lotus roots for Srinagar on November 23, 2016.

Women carry lotus flower roots to feed livestock: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 23 November 2016

A Kashmiri woman collects lotus roots to be used as animal feed on Dal Lake in Srinagar on September 17, 2016.

A woman collects lotus flower roots in the lake: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 17 September 2016

The major problem is pollution, which has almost killed one of the three lakes, Anchar.

According to experts, the main cause of this ecological disaster is the discharge of wastewater. Each year the lake receives thousands of tons of mud, nitrates and phosphates. This has led to the proliferation of algae, which consume the oxygen necessary for traditional flora and fish.

Members of Kashmir's Lakes and Waterways Authority collects weeds in a dense fog in Srinagar on November 20,2016

Kashmir lakes and rivers administration employees harvest algae from Dal Lake: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 20 November 2016

The efforts of the authorities to control this pollution have remained without visible effect. Employees of the lake and river administration are responsible for harvesting algae that invade the lake. But it is an impossible task if one does not treat the cause of evil.

Farmers is out on a lake in Srinagar on November 22,2016.

Farmers sort their crops by the lake: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 22 November 2016

It is still a fabulous place, surrounded by beauties. With the Mughal gardens of Nishat, Shalimar or Chashamshahi, which were designed centuries ago on the model of the Persian gardens.

I like to go there for the pleasure of the walk, and to make personal photos. Of course I also take photographs that interest the agency, to illustrate a situation or an event. It is a peaceful place full of poetry.

A man collects leaves of mapple trees inside a Mughal garden during a dense fog in Srinagar on November 20, 2016

Collecting leaves in a Mughal garden: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 20 November 2016

I often spend hours there. There are always pretty scenes, timeless, with men or women rowing in their boats, fishermen, sellers of vegetables that cross the lake or along its banks to go to the market.

A vegetable vendor waits for customers on the banks of Dal lake in Srinagar on November 22,2016.

A vegetable seller on the shores of the lake: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 22 November 2016

A woman sits on the shores of dal lake as her her play during a dense fog in Srinagar on November 20, 2016.

On the shores of the lake: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 20 November 2016

What I prefer above all else is silence. It inspires a sense of peace. I feel calmed when I am there. It is a welcome break between reports or missions that are sometimes hectic.

Since July the region is shaken by a revival of troubles. With sometimes violent incidents between the Kashmiri separatist movements and the Indian security forces. The conflict is very old, it goes back to the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947.

Sometimes there are daily manifestations that become violent. For several months I regularly cover these clashes, some of which prove fatal.

Indian paramilitary troopers stand guard on the shores of Dal Lake on a cold, winter day in Srinagar on November 23, 2016.

An Indian soldier on the shores of the lake: photo by Tauseef MUstafa/AFP, 23 November 2016

Indian paramilitary troopers patrol on the third day, near the site of a gunfight between the Indian army and suspected militants in Pampore, south of Srinagar on October 12, 2016

Patrol of Indian paramilitaries south of Srinagar, after a shoot-out with activists: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 12 October 2016

The Indian security forces are everywhere, including around the lake. The paramilitaries can be smiling, but they are always on the alert, whether on the banks of the Dal or in the Kashmir Valley.

Indian Kashmiris walk next to maple trees in autumn in Srinagar on November 18, 2016.

Under the plane trees,: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 18 November 2016

If you do not notice too many people in the pictures, it's not because of the situation, but because of the weather.

With the advent of winter it is getting very cold.

And we are in altitude, surrounded by the chain of the Himalayas.

This said the situation has greatly affected tourism around the lake.

Before people could spend whole days there, so beautiful it is. Especially at sunset.

Those who go there are not afraid of what might happen to them.

Indian tourists come less. Above all, we find kashmiris.

We go sometimes as a family to make a tour by Chikara, a small boat for walks.

On Dal Lake: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 20 November 2016

Fisherman on Dal Lake: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 20 November 2016

#india #kashmir Indian paramilitary troopers stand guard near the site of a gunbattle at Arwani Bijbehara #Srinagar #AFP Photo @TauseefMUSTAFA: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 December 2016

A Kashmiri youth hospitalized for wounds from lead pellets fired at protestors by the Indian police. Since mid-July, when a new wave of protests against the Indian military presence started, more than 570 patients have reported to the main government hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir, with eyes ruptured by pellets.: photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP, 28 August 2016

#Civilian killed after ‘encounter’ of 3 #Lashkar #rebels in south #Kashmir | #KashmirDispatch: image via Kashmir Dispatch @KashmirDispatch, 8 December 2016

Hundreds of innocent people of #kashmir have been killed by Indians terrorists armed forces #IndianBrutalityinKashmir: image via Arslan Sadiq @Arslan_Sadiq, 5 December 2016

#India Pedestrians walk along the street on a cold foggy morning in New Delhi #AFP Photo by @dofaget: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 December 2016

#France Partial view of the city of #Lyon through a haze of #pollution #AFP Photo by @Phdesmazes: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY, 8 December 2016

epa05665245 Aerial view of Paris with the Eiffel tower shrouded in haze, in Paris, France, 08 December 2016. Paris is undergoing a third day pollution spike, prompting the city to limit vehicle circulation. EPA/YOAN VALAT

An aerial view of Paris with the Eiffel tower shrouded in haze, in Paris, France. Paris is undergoing a third day pollution spike, prompting the city to limit vehicle circulation: photo by Yoan Valat/EPA, 8 December 2016

An Indian Sikh devotee takes a dip in the holy sarovar (water tank) during dense fog at the Golden Temple in Amritsar on December 9, 2016. / AFP PHOTO / Narinder NANUNARINDER NANU/AFP/Getty Images

An Indian Sikh devotee takes a dip in the holy sarovar during dense fog at the Golden Temple in Amritsar: photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP, 8 December 2016

Iraqi internally displaced groom Jassim Mohammed walks with his bride, Amena Ali, during their wedding ceremony at a camp for internally displaced people, in Khazir, near Mosul, Iraq: photo by Hadi Mizban/AP, 8 December 2016

Iraqi soldiers distribute water to children outside a distribution point run by United Nations agencies at Zahra district, east of Mosul, Iraq December 8, 2016. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah.

Iraqi soldiers distribute water to children outside a distribution point run by United Nations agencies at Zahra district, east of Mosul, Iraq: photo by Ahmed Jadallah/Reuters, 9 December 2016

Chaos, Desperation at First U.N. Aid Distribution Inside Mosul: Reuters, 8 December 2016

MOSUL, Iraq — Iraqi police fired shots in the air and threatened to whip crowds with a hose as residents tried to overrun the first distribution of aid by UN agencies inside Mosul on Thursday, a scene of the desperation in areas retaken from Islamic State.

The distribution aimed to reach 45,000 people in total at several locations but showed the challenges for humanitarian organizations seeking to alleviate acute shortages of water, food and fuel.

As word of the aid spread, residents of the Zuhour neighborhood flocked to a boys' primary school chosen as a distribution point -- men queuing to one side of the main entrance and women on the other.

Fifty-six year old Saad Salih came in an electric wheelchair but the battery was flat and there is no power in Mosul to re-charge it, so a neighbor pushed him along. "We need everything," Salih said. "The disabled should have priority. It's hard for us."

The men queued in relative order, but the women crushed against the door and tempers flared.

"We can't push them back because they are women," said one of the policemen controlling the crowd. Another brandished a section of hose, threatening to hit anyone who tried to push through.

Eventually, the organizers began to let people in small groups, but could not control the flow as hundreds surged forward against just a handful of men pushing to close the gate.

They burst through, and began climbing over the walls and pushing in through the exit until the police, firing shots in the air and wielding long sticks, managed to regain control.

Outside, young boys hawked carts and donkeys to transport people's boxes of aid home, at a price.

Aid agencies have struggled to respond to the humanitarian crisis in Mosul, where residents have largely remained in their homes despite the fighting.

The sound of small arms fire was audible from several kilometers away, where Iraqi forces are fighting to dislodge the militants from the eastern side of the Tigris River that bisects Mosul. Even in areas recaptured by government forces, mortars fired by insurgents still kill and maim residents.

WINTER SETTING IN

Inside the school, three trucks full of aid were unloaded with the help of volunteers, who stacked boxes in neat rows containing food, hygiene kits and water purification taps.

"We are going to cover the whole population in this area," said Hayder Ithawi, a program officer for the U.N.'s World Food Program who is in charge of its rapid response operations.

With winter setting in, fuel is increasingly important, along with water and healthcare, Ithawi said.

Queuing outside, people were anxious for their share and complained that prior distributions of aid by smaller charitable groups and individuals had been unfair.

"Some people got five bags of flour and others got none," said 46-year old carpenter Ihsan Abdullah.

Most people clutched government ration cards, but Samira Mohammed brought a slip bearing the official stamp of Islamic State's vice squad, known as the Hisba.

It proved that the militants had confiscated the family ration card when her son was detained for raising birds, which was forbidden under their rule.

Due to the "critical situation", WFP's Ithawi said any document that reliably identified a household and its head would be accepted, including those issued by Islamic State.

Although the militants are no longer around to enforce their strict dress code, most of the women were still shrouded in black, with only their eyes showing.

A man with a thick moustache, who identified himself as a policeman, said three Islamic State members had been found queuing for aid and were taken away.

Seventy-seven-year old Idrees Saeed Ilyas blamed the government for reducing Iraqis to waiting on handouts.

"If the head of a fish is rotten, the rest will go bad," said Ilyas, who was the first man in the queue. "This is Iraq."

A general view of the conveyor belts and systems that handle the hundreds of thousands of items of mail that pass through the Royal Mail’s Worldwide Distribution Centre in Slough, England. The festive season sees a huge spike in postal items coming through the centre from all over the United Kingdom, destined for international destinations.: photo by Leon Neal, 8 December 2016

A rainbow shines in the sky above the city following a rainstorm, in Beit Lahiya City, Gaza Strip, Dec. 8, 2016. #APPhoto by @ahana99: image via AP Images @AP_images, 8 December 2016

TOM CLARK

Friday, 9 December 2016

Fleeing deeper into the penumbra of the world-historical on a badly overloaded tricycle

The Jewel of Kashmir

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