Heavy sand storm blows dust across Iraq capital

A heavy sandstorm blanketed Baghdad on Friday, reducing visibility for people living in capital. Many locals and people working in the city wore face masks or improvised by using scarves over their mouths and noses.

Sandstorms are a regular occurrence in Baghdad, which is shielded from the desert by a thin strip of arable land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Experts and officials are raising the alarm over their frequency in recent years, which they say is exacerbated by record-low rainfall, desertification, and climate change.