Benyamin Shlimon Brikha, the former elected leader of Chaqala village in the Barwar region, told SBS Assyrian about the devastation caused by arsonists who set fire to thousands of fruit trees, including apple, plum and apricot as well as grape vines on 8 August this year.
Thousands of trees were destroyed in this orchard Credit: Brikha.jpg
This marks the second assault on Mr Brikha's orchards, with a prior massive blaze in 2016 also attributed to arsonists.
Mr Brikha says he believes the attacks are designed, "to send us broke, scare us and force us to leave our ancestral land".
Mr Brikha in front of a church in his village. Credit: Brikha.jpg
Over two decades old, the trees held significant value, leading to a loss of over $1 million.
