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This video and its description are courtesy of my dear, CPT Iraq teammate Michele Naar-Obed (http://duluthcpt.net/):
This is the bombing of the Asterokan Village in the Qandil mountainside inside Iraqi Kurdistan. The bombing was carried out by the Turkish military which was given military intelligence and clearance to fly inside Iraq’s airspace by the US military. As the occupying nation, the US controls the airspace and is ultimately responsible for the safety of Iraq’s civilian population.
The justification for the bombing was to attack the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) living in caves deep within the Qandil Mountains. The PKK is considered a terrorist group by both Turkey and the US. Survivors of this village claim that the PKK were nowhere near their village.
The first 2 minutes of the video are graphic, showing the dead body of Aisha Ali Ibrahim who was hit by one of the 3 rockets that Turkey fired on her village. Her family is in mourning. There is also graphic footage of injured and dead sheep. The remainder of the video is subtitled.
The bombing occurred on December 16, 2007 in the early morning hours, starting at 2AM. Three Kurdish families were in the village taking care of their sheep. After the first rocket hit, villagers scrambled to find safety.
The large crater filled with water was previously the spot on which one family’s tent stood. The tent was obliterated and the crater is filled with water from an underground spring. Pieces of the rocket can be seen in the video.
Three more rockets targeted the village that morning and the tents of the other 2 families were destroyed. Their clothes and house wares were scattered as far away as 400 meters from where the rockets hit. Some of their food was still in the cooking pots. Shoes of the shepherds who escaped are seen buried under pieces of their tents and broken tree limbs.
The video follows the path that the families took in an attempt to seek safety in a ravine approximately 150 meters deep and about 500 meters from the site where the 1st rocket hit.
Villagers were hiding in the reeds when the 3rd rocket hit just above the valley. A piece of the rocket broke off and hit Aisha Ali Ibrahim in the head. She died instantly. Aisha’s blood can be seen on the reeds in the valley where they were hiding.
The tops of trees were burned off by the pressure of the rockets. A dead bird lying on a broken tree limb is seen approximately 100 meters from the valley where Aisha was killed.
A child’s soccer ball, more of the family’s house wares and more pieces of the rockets are seen along the path.
Together, these three families owned approximately 600 sheep. More than 400 sheep were killed and over 100 were badly mutilated. The sheep are seen piled on top of each other. A piece of the rocket is seen amongst the dead sheep.
From mid December 2007, Turkey has attacked over 60 Kurdish villages inside Iraq’s borders killing and injuring civilians, displacing thousands of villagers, killing hundreds of livestock and causing extensive property damage. Many of the families live as internally displaced persons (IDP’s). Some of them have returned home. Others go back to their villages periodically to check on their property and livestock. At night, they sleep in caves where they feel a small sense of protection. Many of the villagers are farmers and they fear they will not be able to go back to plant their spring crops.
Aisha’s family says they will never return to their village because they are afraid of more attacks. Turkish surveillance planes fly over these villages on a regular basis. On February 21, 2008, the Turks launched a massive ground attack 6 miles inside Iraqi Kurdistan. They did this with the “tacit support of the US.”
These are images of what was left of the home of one and a half year old Muhammad Ali after Iranian shells were fired through its roof. Little Muhammed was killed in the attack (see post below).
The video quality is poor, because it was taken on a cell phone. You will see the hole in the roof made by the rocket, the rubble of the destroyed house, blood from multiple injuries and the death of baby Muhammad, and the general disarray of the village after the bombing.
This happened during a period of time in which Iran had made an agreement with the Kurdish Regional Government to stop all attacks on the villages of this area. However, on March 10, 2009 Iran broke that agreement without prior notice and fired shells into the village of Muhammad’s family, Razga.
Muhammed’s family fled from their village to a tent camp for Internally Displaced People (IDPs). But, due to the unacceptable conditions of the camp they have been left no choice but to return to their village despite the danger, for the time being. There is no reason to believe that Iran will not attack again. The civilian villages in this area are frequent targets.
It was 9pm and the family was sleeping together, with their one and a half year old son Muhammad in the middle. Without warning, an Iranian rocket blasted through the roof, and baby Muhammad was killed. The parents, Ali and Khoshia, were both injured. This is a video of Ali telling the story.
Kak Ali is a Kurd from the Iraqi region of Kurdistan. His home is in a village called Razga, near the Iraqi-Iranian border. Like countless other Kurds, his family was displaced from their village by Turkish and Iranian bombing. In February of 2008 good news came when Iran agreed to stop bombing the area. The local Kurdish government announced that it was safe for people to return home, so Ali’s family went back to their village. However, Iran broke the agreement on March 10, 2008 and resumed bombing in several villages, including Razga. This was the night baby Muhammad was killed.
Ali and Khoshia fled with the others in their village to the tent camp that we have been working with. However, the conditions at the camp are so terrible that Khoshia and Ali have left the camp to risk living back in Razga village where their son was killed. We remember them, worry for them, and pray that they will not be caught in another attack. June 25th is the KRG election day. Bombing is expected to resume as soon as the elections are over.
To see footage of the damage from this bombing see the above post or go here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZVnfI…
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