View allAll Photos Tagged Daesh
A few kilometers outside of Dohuk, Iraq, what was supposed to be a five-star hotel has become a nightmarish makeshift refugee camp. After ISIS attacked Sinjar, massacring and enslaving the local Yazidi people, a few of those fortunate enough to escape have sought refuge at the massive “Hotel Kayar” (literally “place where one receives friends). With construction stalled in its early stages, the concrete structure is an inhospitable environment for the 63 Yazidi families who now call it home. Children play with no railing or walls to prevent them from falling. “We just want tents like the other refugees,” said one man, after a storm recently ravaged the little infrastructure they managed to set up in the two months they’ve been here. With a cold winter right around the corner and scarce food and water, the future looks dire.And the kids keep smiling...
© Eric Lafforgue
"Hes had a stroke these are the last of his medicines. We cant afford any more new."
This month the International Organisation for Migration has carried out relief operations in areas newly retaken from Daesh around Mosul in Iraq, targeting newly displaced people who have fled to more stable areas. Last week, 110 full winter non-food relief item (NFI) kits were distributed, including blankets, heaters and carpets, to families in the town of Haj Ali. The kits were funded by the UK’s Department for International Development.
The UK is providing £14 million in humanitarian aid to help support up to 66,000 people in and around Mosul via IOM.
Picture: IOM
Rund 150 Menschen protestieren in Berlin mit einem Demonstrationszug vom Alexanderplatz zum Brandenburger Tor gegen das seit 1993 bestehende Verbot der Kurdischen Arbeiterpartei (PKK) in Deutschland.
In Reden wird darauf hingewiesen, dass insbesondere die Schwesterorganisationen der PKK, die YPG und YPJ in der nordsyrischen Provinz Rojava einen unschätzbaren Dienst im Kamp gegen Daesh leistet. Dies sogar im Zusammenspiel mit den USA.
Zudem sei Deutschland neben der Türkei das einzige Land, in dem die PKK verboten sei.
Campo com refugiados Yazidi, uma minoria de cultura politeista anterior ao islamismo, principais vitimas do Estado Islamico.
Viagem com Talita Ribeiro para o Curdistao Iraquiano.
Dutch photojournalist killed by a sniper's shot to the chest in Libya while covering a fight against daesh, adding to the useless sadness he so eloquenty captured in the shot above
This how Brussels reacts to the terrorist bombings in the metro & airport this morning.
We may not allow terrorists to drive us into a police-state. We must keep our freedom & our way of life safe-guarded.
The video: youtu.be/Pn_YhB8g86o
Campo com refugiados Yazidi, uma minoria de cultura politeista anterior ao islamismo, principais vitimas do Estado Islamico.
Viagem com Talita Ribeiro para o Curdistao Iraquiano.
Free download of the entire Abode of Chaos' Opus IX (504 pages)
Secrets revealed of the Abode of Chaos (144 pages, adult only) >>>
"999" English version with English subtitles is available >>>
HD movie - scenario thierry Ehrmann - filmed by Etienne Perrone
----------
Découvrez gratuitement l’intégralité de l’Opus IX de la Demeure du Chaos (504 pages)
voir les secrets de la Demeure du Chaos avec 144 pages très étranges (adult only)
999 : visite initiatique au coeur de la Demeure du Chaos insufflée par l'Esprit de la Salamandre
Film HD d'Etienne PERRONE selon un scénario original de thierry Ehrmann.
courtesy of Organ Museum
©2015 www.AbodeofChaos.org
A U.S. Soldier stands guard during a security patrol outside Manbij, Syria, June 24, 2018. The patrols are done in coordination with Turkish military forces along the demarcation line outside Manbij to achieve safety and stability in the region. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Timothy R. Koster)
U.S. Soldiers wave to locals as they perform an independent, coordinated patrol through a village near Manbij, Syria, June 26, 2018. These patrols are done in coordination with Turkish Military forces on opposite sides of the demarcation line to ensure the safety and stability of the region. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Timothy R. Koster)
"I was a barber - I do all the latest styles."
This month the International Organisation for Migration has carried out relief operations in areas newly retaken from Daesh around Mosul in Iraq, targeting newly displaced people who have fled to more stable areas. Last week, 110 full winter non-food relief item (NFI) kits were distributed, including blankets, heaters and carpets, to families in the town of Haj Ali. The kits were funded by the UK’s Department for International Development.
The UK is providing £14 million in humanitarian aid to help support up to 66,000 people in and around Mosul via IOM.
Picture: IOM
Unidad de #helis de las Fuerzas Aeromóviles #EjércitodeTierra que desplegará con la coalición para apoyar a #Irak en su lucha contra el #Daesh, en la Operación Inherente Resolve. @CJTFOIR .
🇪🇸
#SomostuEjército
U.S. Soldiers use a scope to observe Turkish military forces on the opposite side of the demarcation line, along with a radio to establish communication with these forces during an independent, coordinated patrol outside Manbij, Syria, June 28, 2018.
Unidad de #helis de las Fuerzas Aeromóviles #EjércitodeTierra que desplegará con la coalición para apoyar a #Irak en su lucha contra el #Daesh, en la Operación Inherente Resolve. @CJTFOIR .
🇪🇸
#SomostuEjército
Rund 150 Menschen protestieren in Berlin mit einem Demonstrationszug vom Alexanderplatz zum Brandenburger Tor gegen das seit 1993 bestehende Verbot der Kurdischen Arbeiterpartei (PKK) in Deutschland.
In Reden wird darauf hingewiesen, dass insbesondere die Schwesterorganisationen der PKK, die YPG und YPJ in der nordsyrischen Provinz Rojava einen unschätzbaren Dienst im Kamp gegen Daesh leistet. Dies sogar im Zusammenspiel mit den USA.
Zudem sei Deutschland neben der Türkei das einzige Land, in dem die PKK verboten sei.
A U.S. Soldier uses binoculars to look toward the demarcation line, during a coordinated, independent patrol outside Manbij, Syria, June 24, 2018. The U.S. and Turkey recently began independent, coordinated patrols to help ensure the area remains free of ISIS activity. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Timothy R. Koster)
Mehrere Dutzend Menschen haben sich an einer Kundgebung am Fuße des Berliner Brandenburger Tores beteiligt, um die Belagerung und die Angriffe der türkischen Polizei auf die Stadt Silvan zu verurteilen. Zudem wird Freiheit für den PKK-Führer Abdullah Öcalan gefordert.
Die Protestierenden sehen die Auseinandersetzungen in Silvan in einer Reihe mit Angriffen des türkischen Staates auf Kurden und kurdische Organisationen seit Staatspräsident Recep Tayyip Erdogans AKP ihre absolute Parlamentsmehrheit verloren hatte. Im Gegenzug hat auch die kurdische Arbeiterpartei PKK ihre Waffenruhe aufgekündigt und turkische Einrichtungen angegriffen.
Auf der Kundgebung wird auch dem Schicksal der Jesiden im irakischen Shingal gedacht. Die Jesiden sehen sich massiver Gewalt ausgesetzt, seit der sogenannte Islamische Staat ihr Gebiet im Irak überrannt hat. Zur Zeit versuchen kurdische Milizen den IS mit einer Großoffensive aus dem Shingal zurückzudrängen.
Mehrere hundert Syrer protestieren in Berlin anlässlich des fünften Jahrestages der syrischen Revolution in Berlin gegen das Regime von Baschar al-Assad und seinen engsten Verbündeten, den russischen Präsidenten Wladimir Putin.
Nach einer Kundgebung am Brandenburger Tor ziehen die Demonstranten in die Nähe der russischen Botschaft und wieder zurück. In Reden bekennen sich die Teilnehmer zu Demokratie und Freiheit und fordern ein Ende des syrischen Regimes als Voraussetzung für eine positive Zukunft Syriens.
Der Aufstand der Syrer gegen Diktator Baschar al-Assad begann vor fünf Jahren am 15. März 2011, als Jugendliche "Das Volk will den Sturz des Regimes" an eine Wand in Daraa sprühten, verhaftet und gefoltert wurden. Die anschließenden, friedlichen Demonstrationen im Zuge des "Arabischen Frühlings", wurden vom Regime blutig beantwortet.
In den letzten fünf Jahren haben nach Schätzungen rund 280.000 Menschen ihr Leben verloren, Millionen sind auf der Flucht, viele Städte zerstört, Zehntausende nach wie vor in den Foltergefängnissen des Regimes und Teile des Landes in der Hand der Terrororganisation Daesh.
3 August 2014 will remain the day the life of the yazedis has changed. Up to 200,000 yazedis people have been displaced from their homes in Sinjar City and the surrounding towns and villages when ISIS arrived by surprise .
The islamist group asked the residents to convert or die...Hundreds of Yazidis were executed as they refused. Most of the people left the village on time, fleeing on foot in the mountains, without nothing and most of the time without water or food , under a 50 degrees temperature. They walked for 7 days, including the babies and the elders. Many were killed, wounded or captured on the way. Now thousands are in Duhok in Kurdistan, and towns like Zoar when they have found a shelter for the winter. Some still have contacts thanks to the mobile phones with the relatives captured or trapped in Sinjar, but many do not have any news of their relatives and fear the worst...Until now, the town od Sinjar is seized by ISIS, where hundreds of Yazidis remain stranded months after fleeing their homes.But Kurdish peshmergas have regained lot of the ground lost to ISIS with the help of the U.S. air strikes. Sinjar is a strategic place as it would put the peshmergas on three sides of Mosul, the largest city under ISIS rule in northern Iraq.
© Eric Lafforgue
Free download of the entire Abode of Chaos' Opus IX (504 pages)
Secrets revealed of the Abode of Chaos (144 pages, adult only) >>>
"999" English version with English subtitles is available >>>
HD movie - scenario thierry Ehrmann - filmed by Etienne Perrone
----------
Découvrez gratuitement l’intégralité de l’Opus IX de la Demeure du Chaos (504 pages)
voir les secrets de la Demeure du Chaos avec 144 pages très étranges (adult only)
999 : visite initiatique au coeur de la Demeure du Chaos insufflée par l'Esprit de la Salamandre
Film HD d'Etienne PERRONE selon un scénario original de thierry Ehrmann.
courtesy of Organ Museum
©2015 www.AbodeofChaos.org
Campo com mais de 20 mil refugiados Yazidi, uma minoria de cultura politeista anterior ao islamismo, principais vitimas do Estado Islamico.
Viagem com Talita Ribeiro para o Curdistao Iraquiano.
Mehrere hundert Syrer protestieren in Berlin anlässlich des fünften Jahrestages der syrischen Revolution in Berlin gegen das Regime von Baschar al-Assad und seinen engsten Verbündeten, den russischen Präsidenten Wladimir Putin.
Nach einer Kundgebung am Brandenburger Tor ziehen die Demonstranten in die Nähe der russischen Botschaft und wieder zurück. In Reden bekennen sich die Teilnehmer zu Demokratie und Freiheit und fordern ein Ende des syrischen Regimes als Voraussetzung für eine positive Zukunft Syriens.
Der Aufstand der Syrer gegen Diktator Baschar al-Assad begann vor fünf Jahren am 15. März 2011, als Jugendliche "Das Volk will den Sturz des Regimes" an eine Wand in Daraa sprühten, verhaftet und gefoltert wurden. Die anschließenden, friedlichen Demonstrationen im Zuge des "Arabischen Frühlings", wurden vom Regime blutig beantwortet.
In den letzten fünf Jahren haben nach Schätzungen rund 280.000 Menschen ihr Leben verloren, Millionen sind auf der Flucht, viele Städte zerstört, Zehntausende nach wie vor in den Foltergefängnissen des Regimes und Teile des Landes in der Hand der Terrororganisation Daesh.
Diyarbakir (Amed), Fête du Newroz 2015. Cette année, la fête de Newroz qui marque le nouvel an kurde, symbole de renaissance et de résistance pour ce peuple, se déroule dans un contexte particulièrement tendu. Depuis décembre 2015, l'était turc assiège et bombarde des quartiers entiers de villes kurdes, où populatins civiles comme militants sont indistinctement massacrés, et soumet l'ensemble de la population kurde à un violente répression. D'un autre côté, la peur d'un attentat suicide de daesh est dans toutes les têtes. Malgré tout, même si ils sont moins nombreux que les années passées, les Kurdes se rejoignent à Amed, capitale du Kurdistan, pour fêter Newroz et célébrer leur résistance.
Some peshmergas take me to the front lines of the war against ISIS. I find myself in the Taza area, just south of Kirkuk, on the road to Baghdad.
According to them, very few journalists come here. Some even said that I was the only was they saw. Nonetheless, it is a key strategic location. It is very dangerous there since Kirkuk is divided: Kurds in the north, ISIS in the south. All along the front lines you can see different units roaming about little traditional houses. Some are kept by old Kurdish vets from the 1980s wars.
Many vets have returned to war, despite being well past middle-aged and having children and grandchildren. Some even behind comfortable lives in Europe to come back, like a Swiss colonel I met. For them, it is their duty to fight for their region. Despite being autonomous and having a large secessionist movement, Kurdistan is not recognized as a state distinct from Iraq. “Some terrorists come along and now the whole world calls them the ‘Islamic State’,” complains one peshmerga, “For decades we have been trying to make the state of Kurdistan and we’ve gotten nothing!”
They have very few weapons, most of them are pre-Cold War AK47s. Some even date back to 1960. They still work, but the Kurdish forces ask for more efficient guns since ISIS has the latest weapons taken (or given) from the Iraqi army who in turn was supplied by coalition forces.
Many vets have only one working eye. The other was lost in previous wars. Once night falls, it becomes very difficult to monitor the 1000km long border. They don’t even have night vision equipment.
Last week it rained for 5 days, and it was impossible to see or hear anything. Some ISIS guys tried to gain territory, but the Kurds successfully fought them off. Their 4 wheel drives were stuck in the mud while ISIS’s brand new hummers were able to move about without issue. From the front line you can see ISIS flags. Since they told me to pack light, I didn’t bring a zoom lens. Sorry! You can see the smoke from their kitchen and even see men running from house to house.
ISIS is only 500 meters from the Kurdish position but nobody seems afraid. Peshmerga know that death is part of their fate, and even if they look like an army from another century, they will defend themselves and their country to the very end. For them, it is the highest honor to die for Kurdistan.
They protect the Baghdad road, but a few weeks ago lost it. After heavy fighting, they regained it, killing 3 Chechen ISIS fighters in the process.
Since peshmerga don’t have armored cars, it is very dangerous for them to go around safely.
The car I took to go on the front lines was very slow and made in the 80s. If we were chased by ISIS cars, we wouldn’t have stood a chance. In one day, all the materiel I saw included AK47s, a tank, an RPG, and a few gun old machines. Even if the pehsmergas say that this equipment works well, they are disappointed not to receive new ones, as Europe and USA promised.
The day after my visit, France made lot of bombings in the area, as ISIS was too close. Peshmergas take a lot of pictures, not only for souvenirs, but also to fight ISIS on the new front: social media.
They fear the roads they do not know well as ISIS pays the local farmers to put mines. Even in times of war, peshmergas are among the most welcoming people in the world. They regularly offer food and drinks.
When it was time for me to go back to the safety of Erbil, circumstances changed. The north road was closed because of an ISIS attack. The only way out was to send me through the south road that crossed Kirkuk. Let’s just say that safety there was not ideal. I had to hide my camera, and we crossed Kirkuk with an escort of armed peshmergas and a civilian car.
The soldiers were all nervous since Kirkuk is very dangerous, especially at the check points. As soon as a car was driving next to ours for too long, they were shouting at the driver to go away.
If a man was crossing the road too slowly, they threatened to hit him. These methods, employed by ISIS suicide bombers, have claimed the lives of hundred in Kirkuk. Once on the Kurdish side, they found a Kurdish taxi driver to bring me safely back to Erbil.
© Eric Lafforgue
Unidad de #helis de las Fuerzas Aeromóviles #EjércitodeTierra que desplegará con la coalición para apoyar a #Irak en su lucha contra el #Daesh, en la Operación Inherente Resolve. @CJTFOIR .
🇪🇸
#SomostuEjército
3 August 2014 will remain the day the life of the yazedis has changed. Up to 200,000 yazedis people have been displaced from their homes in Sinjar City and the surrounding towns and villages when ISIS arrived by surprise .
The islamist group asked the residents to convert or die...Hundreds of Yazidis were executed as they refused. Most of the people left the village on time, fleeing on foot in the mountains, without nothing and most of the time without water or food , under a 50 degrees temperature. They walked for 7 days, including the babies and the elders. Many were killed, wounded or captured on the way. Now thousands are in Duhok in Kurdistan, and towns like Zoar when they have found a shelter for the winter. Some still have contacts thanks to the mobile phones with the relatives captured or trapped in Sinjar, but many do not have any news of their relatives and fear the worst...Until now, the town od Sinjar is seized by ISIS, where hundreds of Yazidis remain stranded months after fleeing their homes.But Kurdish peshmergas have regained lot of the ground lost to ISIS with the help of the U.S. air strikes. Sinjar is a strategic place as it would put the peshmergas on three sides of Mosul, the largest city under ISIS rule in northern Iraq.
© Eric Lafforgue
A soldier safety officer from 2 PARA watches on as the French paratroopers firing the ERYX Anti Tank missile on Salisbury plain training area, Ex wessex storm.
The French unit trained alongside the 2 PARA Battlegroup so that British and French airborne forces are ready to deploy together on short notice missions.
The CJEF was established as part of the defence and security, and on nuclear cooperation treaties signed at Lancaster House by the UK and France in 2010.
The UK and France are deployed around the world together in places such as the Middle East to combat Daesh and Estonia as part of NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence. In Mali 3 RAF Chinooks and 100 UK personnel are deployed in a non-combat role in support of French counter-extremist operations.
The UK will continue to cooperate with our European partners in the future following the UK’s departure from the EU. We will continue to be a key player in Euro-Atlantic security and defence through our leadership in NATO, which will always be central to the UK’s security, our values and our place in the world.
Os presentamos a la unidad de #helis de las Fuerzas Aeromóviles #EjércitodeTierra al mando de la comandante Gallego, que desplegará con la coalición para apoyar a #Irak en su lucha contra el #Daesh, en la Operación Inherente Resolve. @CJTFOIR .
¡Apoyar a vuestros #soldados desde aquí! ¡Suerte en la misión! 🇪🇸
#SomostuEjército
Campo com mais de 20 mil refugiados Yazidi, uma minoria de cultura politeista anterior ao islamismo, principais vitimas do Estado Islamico.
Viagem com Talita Ribeiro para o Curdistao Iraquiano.
A U.S. Soldier looks through a scope at the Turkish military forces while on a security patrol outside Manbij, Syria, June 28, 2018. The U.S. and Turkish militaries conduct independent, coordinated patrols on either side of the demarcation line.(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Timothy R. Koster)
Some peshmergas take me to the front lines of the war against ISIS. I find myself in the Taza area, just south of Kirkuk, on the road to Baghdad.
According to them, very few journalists come here. Some even said that I was the only was they saw. Nonetheless, it is a key strategic location. It is very dangerous there since Kirkuk is divided: Kurds in the north, ISIS in the south. All along the front lines you can see different units roaming about little traditional houses. Some are kept by old Kurdish vets from the 1980s wars.
Many vets have returned to war, despite being well past middle-aged and having children and grandchildren. Some even behind comfortable lives in Europe to come back, like a Swiss colonel I met. For them, it is their duty to fight for their region. Despite being autonomous and having a large secessionist movement, Kurdistan is not recognized as a state distinct from Iraq. “Some terrorists come along and now the whole world calls them the ‘Islamic State’,” complains one peshmerga, “For decades we have been trying to make the state of Kurdistan and we’ve gotten nothing!”
They have very few weapons, most of them are pre-Cold War AK47s. Some even date back to 1960. They still work, but the Kurdish forces ask for more efficient guns since ISIS has the latest weapons taken (or given) from the Iraqi army who in turn was supplied by coalition forces.
Many vets have only one working eye. The other was lost in previous wars. Once night falls, it becomes very difficult to monitor the 1000km long border. They don’t even have night vision equipment.
Last week it rained for 5 days, and it was impossible to see or hear anything. Some ISIS guys tried to gain territory, but the Kurds successfully fought them off. Their 4 wheel drives were stuck in the mud while ISIS’s brand new hummers were able to move about without issue. From the front line you can see ISIS flags. Since they told me to pack light, I didn’t bring a zoom lens. Sorry! You can see the smoke from their kitchen and even see men running from house to house.
ISIS is only 500 meters from the Kurdish position but nobody seems afraid. Peshmerga know that death is part of their fate, and even if they look like an army from another century, they will defend themselves and their country to the very end. For them, it is the highest honor to die for Kurdistan.
They protect the Baghdad road, but a few weeks ago lost it. After heavy fighting, they regained it, killing 3 Chechen ISIS fighters in the process.
Since peshmerga don’t have armored cars, it is very dangerous for them to go around safely.
The car I took to go on the front lines was very slow and made in the 80s. If we were chased by ISIS cars, we wouldn’t have stood a chance. In one day, all the materiel I saw included AK47s, a tank, an RPG, and a few gun old machines. Even if the pehsmergas say that this equipment works well, they are disappointed not to receive new ones, as Europe and USA promised.
The day after my visit, France made lot of bombings in the area, as ISIS was too close. Peshmergas take a lot of pictures, not only for souvenirs, but also to fight ISIS on the new front: social media.
They fear the roads they do not know well as ISIS pays the local farmers to put mines. Even in times of war, peshmergas are among the most welcoming people in the world. They regularly offer food and drinks.
When it was time for me to go back to the safety of Erbil, circumstances changed. The north road was closed because of an ISIS attack. The only way out was to send me through the south road that crossed Kirkuk. Let’s just say that safety there was not ideal. I had to hide my camera, and we crossed Kirkuk with an escort of armed peshmergas and a civilian car.
The soldiers were all nervous since Kirkuk is very dangerous, especially at the check points. As soon as a car was driving next to ours for too long, they were shouting at the driver to go away.
If a man was crossing the road too slowly, they threatened to hit him. These methods, employed by ISIS suicide bombers, have claimed the lives of hundred in Kirkuk. Once on the Kurdish side, they found a Kurdish taxi driver to bring me safely back to Erbil.
© Eric Lafforgue
A few kilometers outside of Dohuk, Iraq, what was supposed to be a five-star hotel has become a nightmarish makeshift refugee camp. After ISIS attacked Sinjar, massacring and enslaving the local Yazidi people, a few of those fortunate enough to escape have sought refuge at the massive “Hotel Kayar” (literally “place where one receives friends). With construction stalled in its early stages, the concrete structure is an inhospitable environment for the 63 Yazidi families who now call it home. Children play with no railing or walls to prevent them from falling. “We just want tents like the other refugees,” said one man, after a storm recently ravaged the little infrastructure they managed to set up in the two months they’ve been here. With a cold winter right around the corner and scarce food and water, the future looks dire.And the kids keep smiling...
© Eric Lafforgue
Some peshmergas take me to the front lines of the war against ISIS. I find myself in the Taza area, just south of Kirkuk, on the road to Baghdad.
According to them, very few journalists come here. Some even said that I was the only was they saw. Nonetheless, it is a key strategic location. It is very dangerous there since Kirkuk is divided: Kurds in the north, ISIS in the south. All along the front lines you can see different units roaming about little traditional houses. Some are kept by old Kurdish vets from the 1980s wars.
Many vets have returned to war, despite being well past middle-aged and having children and grandchildren. Some even behind comfortable lives in Europe to come back, like a Swiss colonel I met. For them, it is their duty to fight for their region. Despite being autonomous and having a large secessionist movement, Kurdistan is not recognized as a state distinct from Iraq. “Some terrorists come along and now the whole world calls them the ‘Islamic State’,” complains one peshmerga, “For decades we have been trying to make the state of Kurdistan and we’ve gotten nothing!”
They have very few weapons, most of them are pre-Cold War AK47s. Some even date back to 1960. They still work, but the Kurdish forces ask for more efficient guns since ISIS has the latest weapons taken (or given) from the Iraqi army who in turn was supplied by coalition forces.
Many vets have only one working eye. The other was lost in previous wars. Once night falls, it becomes very difficult to monitor the 1000km long border. They don’t even have night vision equipment.
Last week it rained for 5 days, and it was impossible to see or hear anything. Some ISIS guys tried to gain territory, but the Kurds successfully fought them off. Their 4 wheel drives were stuck in the mud while ISIS’s brand new hummers were able to move about without issue. From the front line you can see ISIS flags. Since they told me to pack light, I didn’t bring a zoom lens. Sorry! You can see the smoke from their kitchen and even see men running from house to house.
ISIS is only 500 meters from the Kurdish position but nobody seems afraid. Peshmerga know that death is part of their fate, and even if they look like an army from another century, they will defend themselves and their country to the very end. For them, it is the highest honor to die for Kurdistan.
They protect the Baghdad road, but a few weeks ago lost it. After heavy fighting, they regained it, killing 3 Chechen ISIS fighters in the process.
Since peshmerga don’t have armored cars, it is very dangerous for them to go around safely.
The car I took to go on the front lines was very slow and made in the 80s. If we were chased by ISIS cars, we wouldn’t have stood a chance. In one day, all the materiel I saw included AK47s, a tank, an RPG, and a few gun old machines. Even if the pehsmergas say that this equipment works well, they are disappointed not to receive new ones, as Europe and USA promised.
The day after my visit, France made lot of bombings in the area, as ISIS was too close. Peshmergas take a lot of pictures, not only for souvenirs, but also to fight ISIS on the new front: social media.
They fear the roads they do not know well as ISIS pays the local farmers to put mines. Even in times of war, peshmergas are among the most welcoming people in the world. They regularly offer food and drinks.
When it was time for me to go back to the safety of Erbil, circumstances changed. The north road was closed because of an ISIS attack. The only way out was to send me through the south road that crossed Kirkuk. Let’s just say that safety there was not ideal. I had to hide my camera, and we crossed Kirkuk with an escort of armed peshmergas and a civilian car.
The soldiers were all nervous since Kirkuk is very dangerous, especially at the check points. As soon as a car was driving next to ours for too long, they were shouting at the driver to go away.
If a man was crossing the road too slowly, they threatened to hit him. These methods, employed by ISIS suicide bombers, have claimed the lives of hundred in Kirkuk. Once on the Kurdish side, they found a Kurdish taxi driver to bring me safely back to Erbil.
© Eric Lafforgue
A few kilometers outside of Dohuk, Iraq, what was supposed to be a five-star hotel has become a nightmarish makeshift refugee camp. After ISIS attacked Sinjar, massacring and enslaving the local Yazidi people, a few of those fortunate enough to escape have sought refuge at the massive “Hotel Kayar” (literally “place where one receives friends). With construction stalled in its early stages, the concrete structure is an inhospitable environment for the 63 Yazidi families who now call it home. Children play with no railing or walls to prevent them from falling. “We just want tents like the other refugees,” said one man, after a storm recently ravaged the little infrastructure they managed to set up in the two months they’ve been here. With a cold winter right around the corner and scarce food and water, the future looks dire.And the kids keep smiling...
© Eric Lafforgue