RELIGION-EID/IRAQ ERBIL Iraqis displaced by IS fighting long to return home on Eid

Record ID: 146781

  • Title: RELIGION-EID/IRAQ ERBIL Iraqis displaced by IS fighting long to return home on Eid
  • Date: 17th July 2015
  • Summary: ERBIL, IRAQ (JULY 17, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TENTS AT BAHARKA CAMP FOR DISPLACED IRAQIS CHILDREN RUNNING AMONG ROWS OF TENTS VARIOUS OF GIRLS WEARING COLOURFUL CLOTHES TWO BOYS PLAYING VARIOUS OF CHILDREN ON THE BACK OF A THREE-WHEEL VEHICLE PEOPLE EXCHANGING EID GREETINGS CHILD DISTRIBUTING CANDIES TO A GROUP OF CHILDREN (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) DISPLACED WOMAN FROM MOSUL
  • Embargoed: 1st August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9O0LHW7VVUS99DPNUCO4GXTZG
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Hundreds of internally displaced Iraqis marked on Friday (July 17) the beginning of Eid al-Fitr in a makeshift camp in the northern city of Erbil.
    The holiday follows the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in which observant Muslims fast from dawn to dusk.
    Only children seemed to be celebrating walking around the camp in colourful clothes and distributing some sweets.
    Adults, like Um Alaa, a displaced woman from Mosul, were not in a festive mood.
    "Only children are happy because they do not understand anything. They put on new clothes and they run outside. But for us for our Eid we want to go back to our homes. We want the government to quicken the liberation of Mosul so we go back. Why do we live here in the desert under the scorching sun and heat and without any water or electricity," she said.
    Several called on Iraqi government to liberate their hometowns from Islamic State militants.
    "We wish our government quickly liberate our areas; Salahuddin, Mosul, Ramadi and Falluja in order to help people and children return to their homes," said Um Muamar from Baiji.
    Iraqi Sunni Muslims celebrate the first day of Eid al-Fitr on Friday (July 17), while the country's majority Shi'ites will observe Eid on Saturday (July 18).
    At least one charity, the United Arab Emirates Red Crescent, distributed gifts consisting of new clothes and shoes for children in the camp.
    "We are happy to see the peoples' reaction and to see the joy and smiles on the faces of the people who receive these gifts," said Rashid al-Mansour, the consul of the UAE in Kurdistan region, who was distributing the aid.
    Islamic State fighters swept through north Iraq last June as Iraq's army disintegrated.
    Their advance was contained by Shi'ite militias and Kurdish peshmerga fighters, backed by U.S.-led air strikes.
    Violence has already forced nearly 3 million Iraqis from their homes, the U.N. says.
    The world body said it was asking donors for $497 million to pay for shelter, food and water over the next six months for millions of Iraqis forced from their homes or otherwise affected by violence between Iraqi forces and Islamic State fighters.
    Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite paramilitaries launched a large military offensive last week to retake the city of Ramadi, which fell to the militants in May.
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