ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — More than 300 cases of shortness of breathing have been recorded in the Kurdistan Region due to dust storms this week, while nearly an additional 900 cases have been recorded elsewhere in Iraq.

Hamza Raziki, the spokesperson for Duhok’s health directorate, said they have reported 230 cases in the province in the last three days.

The number is lower in the more populous capital city of Erbil where about 100 people had reported breathing problems. 

However, only few people reported suffering in Sulaimani province because the dust arrived in the more easterly city late, according to Yad Naqishbandi, the spokesperson for the province's health directorate.


Saif Badr spokesperson for Iraqi health ministry said on Friday that about 900 were hospitalized on Friday due to the dust and Anbar province had the lion’s share with 570 cases.

The Kurdistan Region’s major cities mostly lie in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains. The deserts of Iraq cause annual dust storms in the Kurdistan Region.

At their peak, the dust storms reduce visibility to less than a kilometer. People in the Kurdistan Region have been wearing surgical masks and scarves to filter the air in order to breath.

Photos from Sulaimani: Sartip Othman | Rudaw