Among the Yezidi Kurds the fear of death is still looming. They know how real that fear is.

This man has managed to save himself and Peshmerga soldiers are now helping him to reach safety.

The difficulties for these refugees haven’t ended yet. This woman was praying for death to come.

Woman talking to Hevidar:
“Another Halabja is happening to us. We are disabled, we can’t walk anymore. No food, no water, our children have all died.”

A woman told Rudaw that three of her daughters committed suicide after they were raped by ISIS militants and were later allowed to join their family on Mount Shingal.

The mother said: My daughters were calling on people to kill them, but no one wanted to do that. So they jumped from the mountain and ended their bitter life.

The mother recounted her daughters’ story on camera, but YPG fighters on the mountain seized the Rudaw camera and erased the tape.

This woman tells the story of the Yezidi girls who committed suicide.

“They took the girls by force and raped them, and after they returned they killed themselves.”

This war has claimed everyone its victim: men, women, young and old. This man has grown old among his people, but he had never expected to see a day like this.

“In my whole life I have never seen something like this. Our world is destroyed. I can’t say anything.”

The Peshmerga have now opened a road to save the Yezidis.

“There was spot that was occupied by the ISIS. The Peshmerga came and took over it. As soon as our people saw the Peshmerga had arrived, they began descending the mountain.”

These people are running towards life, but hunger, thirst and searing heat is following them.

These refugees have paid a high price to reach safety. They have been walking for three days and three nights to reach Zakho, but that is not their ultimate goal. They wonder what their fate would be in the midst of this war.
Hevidar Ahmed, Rudaw, Mount Shingal