On September 3, 2024, Badih Kamal, a 29-year-old shepherd, was herding the family’s goats in the mountains of northeastern Iraqi Kurdistan, not far from where the border of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey meet. The quiet of the afternoon was suddenly shattered when three artillery shells were fired in quick succession. The third one struck Badih and killed him instantly. His uncle Jamal rushed to his side but it was clear that Badih would not survive.
Read MoreThe Kandakolen Massacre is the largest incident of casualties by Turkish military operations. Turkish fighter jets bombed a nomadic encampment in Kandakolen of the Sidakan subdistrict, killing 30 civilians and injuring 14. In the incident, 15 children were killed and 9 were injured. Two pregnant women were also killed, with one of the women in labor when she was killed. The fighter jets did not bomb just once; they circled back to the encampment, bombing it twice. Survivors of the attack also witnessed two helicopters pouring acid onto the encampment after it was bombed, a scene of unimaginable suffering.
Read MoreOn January 28, 2024, Turkish armed forces began construction of a military road network in Iraqi Kurdistan. This network connected the military bases built during 2021 in the 'Claw Lightning' operation in the Berwary Balla area of the Kani Masi subdistrict. Turkey constructed this road network in just a few weeks and reached 9km deep inside Iraqi Kurdistan. On April 10, 2024, the Iraqi border guard force constructed two military bases in the villages around Batifa.
Read MoreSharmin, Mam Ali and their whole family decided to move to the bigger town of Sidakan. Here they thought they would be safe from the bombardments which plagued their ancestral home. In October 2022, when Sharmin travelled to the mountains to visit here relatives, another bombardment would strike.
Read MoreCPT-IK and our partners at Shar Press are pleased to present a new collaborative documentary, 'A Bombardment Between Two Rivers'. The film interviews victims and family members impacted by an Iranian bombardment that left 21 people dead in Qaladze, Iraqi Kurdistan, on August 6, 1994.
Read MoreOn April 4th 2023, two civilians were killed by a Turkish airstrike while harvesting vegetables in the mountains near Shiladze.
Read More“all the people and animals are under threat here. Every day we call the shepherds ten times to see if they are okay. Every family has to do that.”
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