The Iraqi city of Samawa sits about 265 kilometres south of Baghdad on the Euphrates River. Home to about 150,000 people, Samawa hosts vineyards and orchards, carpet-making and heavy industries. Samawa is also the place where families have braved the sun to dig truffles from the dry soil. Ten-year-old Salma Mohsen shows off a truffle he took from the desert. Reuters

Hunting for truffles in Iraq's Samawa desert - in pictures