CPTnet
7 January 2009
IRAQ: CPTers visit Sangasar, witness bombing near Iranian border

by Peggy Gish

The mayor of Sangasar recited a litany of damages caused by Turkey and Iran’s "continuous bombing” over the last two months of thirty-eight villages connected to Sangasar: 140-150 families displaced, cattle killed, trees, crops and farmland destroyed, people injured, village water systems destroyed, and pain for so many lives.

A year ago in Sangasar (in the Suleimaniya area of the Kurdistan Regional Government), we met Susan, then a twenty-seven-year old single woman who had lost a leg when her village was bombed.  We were glad when the mayor said that she now had an artificial leg.  She had made a lot of progress in the past year, but remained depressed, feeling little hope for her future.

"Susan's sister, was recently caught in the bombing with her sick child," the mayor recounted. "For some time afterward, she couldn't see or hear anything" (likely due to shock.) "She still suffers psychologically, but is taking medication that helps her some."

The mayor told us about a man who had already lost both of his legs.  "When his village was recently bombed, he was so afraid that he ran on the stumps of his legs, using his hands. I felt so sad when I heard about him."

Back on the road, we drove to the site where local contractors sponsored by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) were digging foundations for sturdy tents. These will be homes for forty-five families from the Zharawa IDP Camp who had just been forced to leave the camp by the owner of the land.  "Recent rains have delayed the work. It will be a month until we can complete the project," the contractor told us.

Afterward, we headed for the village, where the man without legs lived, to see if we could talk to him or other residents.  We knew that we could probably not go past the security checkpoint to get there, but decided to try anyway﷓sometimes the way opens unexpectedly.

Driving toward the checkpoint, we saw balls of smoke rise from explosions in the direction of the Iranian border, where this man's and other villages were located. The balls of smoke rose and broke apart over the mountains.

At the checkpoint, we explained to the security guards what we wanted to do.  "No, there's heavy bombing in the villages and it's too dangerous," the head guard told us.  "They might see your car and target it.  I would be responsible if something happened to you. Besides that, most of the people have left the villages."

After some discussion, we turned around to drive away. We felt a heaviness as we looked at the range of mountains closer to the border and saw many more balls of smoke rise. At the same time we felt thankful for people we met that day who cared about and were trying to help the people caught in this campaign of violence.