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Persecuted under Saddam Hussein for being Kurdish, then chased from Baghdad because they are Christian, families in a village on Iraq’s border with Turkey find themselves on a new front incursion.

The tiny Christian enclave of Dash Ta Takhe in the Khameer mountains has been shaken by Turkish shelling in recent weeks, forcing two thirds of its 150 population to flee to safer areas.

Some locals, however, mainly the men, are staying put, either because they refuse to evacuate or because they cannot afford to go anywhere else. “Even if we all die we will not leave the village,” Gurial Warda, the mayor, whose wife and children have fled to Zakho, the nearest large town, said.

Ringing his hands in despair, Shamoon Michael, another villager, said that he did not know what to do with his wife and seven of their eight children who still lived at home. The family, like several others in the village, fled to the largely autonomous Kurdish region from Baghdad to escape the violence, only to find themselves in the line of fire once more.

Adding to the misfortune of the Michaels, they spent most of their money moving to Dash Ta Takhe from Baghdad and cannot afford to change house again. One of the sons, Habib, 21, has a potentially fatal kidney disease, while another, Toni, 16, is in hospital in Baghdad undergoing surgical treatment after breaking both hands falling out of a walnut tree.

“I am very, very worried. My face laughs but I am crying inside. I cannot think what to do,” said Nadema Mosa, Mr Michael’s wife.

Mr Michael, 47, was forced to make a new life in Baghdad in 1976 when Dash Ta Takhe was destroyed by the Baath party, which opposed the Kurds. An hotel worker, he lived with his wife and children in New Baghdad until the chaos after the US-led invasion in March 2003.

The Christian minority of Iraq is a target for al-Qaeda and other extremist Islamist groups. A year ago the family decided that the situation in the Iraqi capital was too dangerous and moved back to the Kurdish north, where the regional government had rebuilt Dash Ta Takhe.

“When I arrived here it was a lovely feeling. I was very happy. We hoped that we could get a house,” his wife said, noting that the family’s current abode was borrowed from a relative.

“The area was very quiet and comfortable. Then the shelling started.”

Turkey has been firing artillery rounds across the border for years, trying to hit Kurdish rebels who live in the mountains that straddle Iraq and Turkey. Caught in the line of fire, Kurdish villages along the border have borne the brunt of the onslaught, which they say has intensified in recent weeks as the Turkish Army steps up its campaign against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Dash Ta Takhe overlooks a river that acts as the border between Iraq and Turkey. A Turkish flag flutters from a mountain face on the opposite side of the river, where a military post is also visible — a constant reminder of the proximity of Turkey.

“The shelling has forced many people to desert the village,” said Mr Warda, 56, who also moved back from Baghdad.“I think they are doing this deliberately to kick us out of our village. They have burnt our orchards,” he said, pointing to a patch of blackened land where fig trees and pomegranates once grew.

The shelling, which has so far only damaged the land surrounding Dash Ta Takhe rather than the houses, has prevented Mr Michael from finding work as a farmer, further compounding his family’s difficulties. “I am unable to sleep at night because I worry about him, my son,” he said, looking fondly at Habib, who sat across the room, his face clammy and tired.

Habib said that he was not in pain but knew that his life was over unless he received specialist kidney treatment in Amman, the Jordanian capital — a move that the family cannot afford.

“I pray for help. I hope that someone will help me. I also pray for there to be safety in my village so we can stay here,” he said. Asked what would happen if assistance failed to materialise, he said simply: “I will die.”

The future looks bleak for the Michaels as Turkish troops continue to mass at the border.

“We cannot afford to rent a house in Zakho so we have to stay here. Let them kill us, we are helpless,” Mr Michael added.

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