Two children die after fire in Iraqi Kurdistan camp

Two children die after fire in Iraqi Kurdistan camp
The Jamshko camp in Iraq's Kurdistan region is home to hundreds of Yazidi families who were displaced after the Islamic State group began committing genocide against the religious minority in 2014.
2 min read
06 February, 2023
The blaze took place in the Jamshko camp, located in the Duhok province in Iraqi Kurdistan, sources said [Jadwiga Figula/Getty-file photo]

Two children were killed after a fire broke out on Sunday at a camp for displaced people in Iraqi Kurdistan, local and security sources said.

The blaze took place in the Jamshko camp in Iraq's northernmost province of Duhok, the sources said.

The camp is home to hundreds of Yazidi families who were displaced after the Islamic State (IS) group swept through northern and western Iraq in 2014 and began committing genocide against the religious minority.

The director of migration and displacement in Duhok, Bir Dian Bir Jafar, said the two dead children were siblings.

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Neither Iraqi security nor the migration and displacement ministry has commented on the cause of the fire.

It comes just days after a fire broke out at another Duhok province camp due to an electrical fault. There was no loss of life in that incident.

In the past year, fires and explosions have hit camps for displaced people in northern Iraq on several occasions, leading to deaths and injuries.

Iraq's Kurdistan region contains camps for those who have as yet been unable to return to their original areas owing to security and political issues or because the destruction caused there by IS has yet to be repaired.