The last two weeks in Iraqi Kurdistan were one of the deadliest for civilians in a long time. Turkish military operations killed seven civilians, including three children and injured two civilians. Drone strikes killed the majority. Since the beginning of the year, seventeen civilians have been killed, and Turkish military operations inside Iraqi Kurdistan have injured three.
The trauma of the skies is a common expression used by people in living areas routinely surveilled by drones. Children speak of the terror and frequently look to the sky in fear. Perpetual fear and having your culture and way of life taken from you is something that carves into the sense of being human. Families are displaced from their ancestral lands without support or acknowledgement of the tragedy. The stories are countless.
Let us pray for the survivors of the bombings and their communities. Let us pray for the victims, their families, and their relatives. Let us pray for the protection of civilian life, their culture, their way of life, and their lands. Let us pray for the civilians who continue to resist nonviolently. Let us pray for peace in Kurdistan.
