By Alexander Whitcomb and Raed Asad Ahmed
KHAZIR CHECKPOINT, Kurdistan Region - Thousands of Shiite Turkmen from other parts of Iraq arrived in the Kurdistan Region, exhausted and despondent after weeks of running from Sunni Islamic State (IS) militants whose fight is mainly with the Shiite government in Baghdad.
“We call on the whole world, the Islamic nations, and whoever hears our voice to come to our aid and end our suffering. I have escaped with only this shirt on my back, nothing else,” a man in his sixties told Rudaw.
For the past week a group of 200 from the predominantly Turkmen city of Tal Afar -- 50 kilometers west of Mosul which fell to the militants more than a month ago -- has been living at a checkpoint between Mosul and Erbil. They have been sleeping in the dirt without stable supplies of food and water, and have been joined since by thousands more.
One father could no longer contain his frustration, entreating Rudaw to look at his family as they slept barefoot on the ground: “Look at the children! They are all hungry. Send us food! We have none, we are hungry and thirsty. We left our homes 20 days ago. We only hope to go somewhere safe.”
Tal Afar witnessed heavy fighting between local Shiite militias and IS before the militants overran the city on June 16. Many of the estimated 20,000 Shiite Turkmen residents escaped the city, fearing for their lives. The IS fighters have committed mass atrocities against both Shiite civilians and surrendered soldiers, in line with their avowed mission of igniting a sectarian “holy war” across the region.
Making matters worse, Iraqi Security Forces and Shiite militias executed unarmed Sunni prisoners in their cells before the fall of the city, inflaming the captors’ resentment against the population.
Once escaping the city, the Turkmen group travelled to Rabia, a border town with Syria. They also rested in Shangal, where the majority of the town’s residents are ethnic Kurds who practice the Yezidi religion.
The road to safety is fraught with risk. On June 6, IS captured 11 Shiite Turkmen refugees, including five children. The families drove into IS-controlled territories in Mosul by mistake. Kurdish security forces reported militants destroyed their vehicle on the spot, but the fate of the individuals remains unknown.
Leaving their homes and belongings behind, waves of refugees like this group have arrived in Kurdistan from Tel Kaif, Tal Afar and the districts of Sinjar in the Nineveh province of northern Iraq. Some families came by car, others by foot. Kurdish security forces (Asayish) told Rudaw that more than 2,000 have already been sent to Kirkuk from one checkpoint alone. From Kirkuk, they will be airlifted to Baghdad and other parts of the Shiite south. Over 600 remain at the checkpoint.
The Turkish Red Crescent has sent trucks of supplies for internally-displaced Turkmen still in the area, and more supplies are set to arrive before the end of Ramadan. Yet many are leaving for the relative safety of the Kurdistan Region, where they wish to be relocated to other parts of Iraq.
