IRAQ: Fires devour thousands of acres of agricultural land in Syriac village of Karamlesh in Nineveh Plains
NINEVEH PLAINS, Iraq — New fires devoured agricultural lands around the village of Karamlesh, Nineveh Plains yesterday. Syriac TV channel SuroyoTV reported that the burned area was estimated in the thousands of acres of crop land. A local Syriac priest informed that the fires originated in fields belonging to a nearby Shia Shabak village and from there spread to the agricultural lands of Karamlesh.
The cause of the massive fires is not known. In similar fires last year, various areas of the Nineveh Plains and northern Iraq destroyed wheat and barley crops causing significant losses of the years harvest, severely impacting the livelihoods of the regions farmers. The scenes of massive fires and widespread destruction seem to be playing out again this year. Summers in norther Iraq have been hotter and water increasingly scarce. Fires can be ignited by a simple glass shard or recently fired bullet but many of the fires are likely intentionally set by fighters of the Islamic State (ISIS) still hiding out in the region.
Although ISIS hasn’t held territory in Nineveh Plains since 2017, cells of extremists continue their terrorist activities from hideouts. Years after their territorial defeat, ISIS still attacks police and security forces and targets civilians in rural areas with killings and kidnappings. The intentional setting of agricultural fires is a tactic used widely by the organization in the summer of 2019.
The Syriac-Chaldean village of Karamlesh falls within the Al-Hamdaniya district of Nineveh Governate, of which the Syriac city of Baghdede is the municipal center and includes the Syriac town of Bartella. Karamlesh is still recovering from the impact of the 2014-2017 ISIS occupation. Villagers fled their homes in the summer of 2014 as ISIS invaded. Many of the Syriac-Chaldean villagers have returned to Karamlesh and rebuilt their homes and village. In April, a new community center was opened to bring back communal life to the village.
Crop fires in the Qaramlesh town in Nineveh Plains. pic.twitter.com/SJEG7yTrz9
— DAVID ܕܘܝܕ (@dvdvrgl) June 2, 2020