More than a thousand cases of suffocation have been recorded in Iraq today due to a dust storm that has hit the central and southern regions of the country since yesterday evening.
And the Iraqi news agency reported that the storm hit six Iraqi governorates, including the capital Baghdad, as well as the governorates of Anbar, Kirkuk, Najaf, Karbala and Salah al-Din, while health authorities in Anbar and Kirkuk urged residents not to leave their homes.
Iraq is among the five countries in the world most vulnerable to climate change and desertification, especially due to the increasing drought with high temperatures that exceed 50 degrees Celsius on some days in summer.