ZAKHO, Kurdistan Region — Turkish airstrikes in Duhok province are wreaking havoc on the lives of local farmers.
For fear of being caught in the crossfire of the conflict, people are avoiding grazing their animals in some of the most fertile areas.
Farmers in Grebye village in Duhok’s Zakho district have sold most of their sheep and goats over the last year.
“Turkish airstrikes are continuing in this area. We can’t take our flock of sheep far from the village. We just go 150 to 200 meters away from the village. There are no sheep left in the village, except for a few,” Sharvan Abdulghafoor, a shepherd from the village, told Rudaw.
This livestock market in Zakho hustles and bustles with villagers from the border areas selling their livestock.
Farmer Walat Abdullah sold his flock of sheep for four million dinars [around $2,700] cheaper than he’d get for the animals ten days ago.
“We used to take our livestock to the pastures, but we can’t go there this year. There are airstrikes every day,” said the farmer from Karpit village. “No one has remained in the border villages. They all fled to the urban areas. Therefore, I sold mine. I sold 140 sheep at a loss.”
Nearly 1,000 sheep and goats are being showcased for sale over the course of the day at the market.
According to the livestock traders, 80% of the livestock is from the border areas.
“It’s better to lose the sheep than your children,” Ali Ramadhan, a sheep trader, Rudaw.
According to Dilsher Abdulsattar, the acting mayor of Zakho district, 25 villages in the border areas of Zakho have been evacuated. The population of 25 other villages has also declined since last year.
According to some villagers, the Iraqi Army has recently set up four new military bases in Duhok’s Kani Masi sub-district to protect the areas.
“It’s better for us as there are now military bases between the villages of Hiror and Brifka,” shepherd Ayad Hirori told Rudaw’s Nasir Ali on Tuesday.
Rudaw English tried to reach out to Dler Farzanda Zebari, a senior Iraqi official in the area,to confirm the presence of the bases, but he was not available.
Translation and video editing by Sarkawt Mohammed
