11 girls commit suicide in Kurdish town in 3 months

By Abdulkarim al-Zaibari

Azzaman, April 16, 2007

Eleven girls have committed suicide by burning themselves in the Kurdish town of Zakho, a police source in the town said.

The source said the suicides occurred in the past three months.

“It is the worst count in the history of women suicides in the town of Zakho,” the source added.

He said all the girls set themselves on fire “as they believed this is the easiest path to death.”

Zakho, a border town, is Iraq’s gateway to Turkey.

The source said police on Sunday found bodies to two more women, but refused to reveal how they were killed.