War – Pagina 4 – Benedetta Argentieri

11 Settembre 2014
Iraq, IS, War

Letter from Kurdistan-2 “Look how my family is living”

“Look how my family is living”

These pictures were sent to me on Wednesday evening. They were taken in Zakho, Iraq. The town, which is in the Kurdistan region, is at the border with Turkey and it is currently hosting several Yazidi families who escaped from ISIS in the Sinjar area. Thousands of them just want to leave Iraq for good. “We don’t have any future here. We are not muslim and we will always be harassed” said Fahrani over the phone from an IDP camp.

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4 Settembre 2014
Iraq, IS, ISIS, War

The Islamic State Human Trafficking Circuit

Adeba Shaker is a 14 years-old and she is one of the few girls who was able to escape from ISIS. On August 2, she and all her family fled from her village to a nearby town, hoping to escape the Islamic State. But the day after she was seized with 72 other women and children. She used to live near Sinjar province. Adeba travelled through out northern Iraq on a sort of human trafficking route. She made about seven stops before she arrived at her final destination in Raabia. There she was supposed to be forced into marriage with a front line jihadist. She was intended to be a gift for them, but she was lucky enough to escape.

She was held captive for twenty days. During this period Adeba met many other women in her same condition. They were imprisoned in what used to be schools or police stations in different cities. Once they arrived in a place, ISIS militants would enter a room and choose three or four girls. When they were gone, nobody would see them again.

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29 Agosto 2014
Iraq, IS, ISIS, Military, War

The cost of Iraq. The Pentagon has spent over $500 million in three months

From June 16 to August 26 the U.S has spent an average of $7.5 million in Iraq. For a grand total of roughly $ 547.5 million. The Pentagon’s press secretary revealed it, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby, revealed it during a press conference on Friday morning. The operational costs varied, and they increased after the U.S. president authorized airstrikes on August 8.

So far, Kirby continued, the U.S. has conducted 110 airstrikes. The latest one near Mosul dam. “The strikes destroyed four ISIL armed vehicles, severely damaged another armed vehicle, and destroyed three ISIL support vehicles. All aircraft exited the strike areas safely.” Since August 8 Air Force has targeted 85 vehicles.

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28 Agosto 2014
Iraq, IS, Military, War

Why nobody talks about PKK fighters?

This map has been published by the Institute for the Study of War on August 26. It is a report on Iraq. Airstrikes and major clashes are happening between Mosul and Erbil, claims the institute. Pashmerga are fighting IS, with the help of “unknown gunmen.” Everybody talks about the Kurdish fighters and of course about ISF – Iraq Security Forces. Very few people recognize the Kurdistan Workers Party aka PKK as a legittimate force on the ground, which is not just fighting but also rescuing civilians attacked by ISIS. It happened on Mount Sinjar, where, according to sources on the ground, they were the only ones who pushed back IS and opened a safe passage for families and innocents to escape.

“We are alive just because of them. The Pashmerga left us there alone without even shooting a bullet,” said Faris, a 27 years old engineer, who is helping to set up a camp by the Iraq border with Turkey. Most of the Yazidi praise the PKK and some join their fight. About 2,000 of them are still on Mont Sinjar where US airstrikes are happening and coordinated with the help of some team on the ground . In the meantime PKK fighters are pushing back IS forces in Al Malakia, just at the border with Syria. The PKK is not fighting along side Pashmerga. The Kurdish soldiers are protecting Erbil while the PKK is on the field.

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