On one side of a bombed out street in Duloaiya, a black flag marks the territory of Islamic State. On the other, Shiite militia snipers perch on the roof of a school, their sights trained on the Sunni extremists.
As fighting rages in the frontline town, ordinary Iraqis are bridging the sectarian divide to survive and preserve what's left of their fraying nation. After the town's main bridge was destroyed in June, the mostly Sunni residents were left scavenging for food, only for Shiites from the town opposite to organize aid and deliver it by boat.
"The government is doing nothing for our brothers across the river," Thu al-Faqar, one volunteer from the Shiite town of Balad, said last week. "So we decided, to open a center for donation from Iraqi citizens."