Kapikoy, Turkey –
Terrified travelers fleeing war in Iran for the safety of neighboring countries have described the extent of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes around the country, which have pummeled many regional cities as well as the capital Tehran.
Iranians as well as foreign students and traders at border crossings in Pakistan and Turkey were spoken to. Others trying to flee were interviewed by phone or text messages despite widespread communication problems.
Taken together, their testimonies offer insight into the scale of the air campaign over the last five days that the U.S. military claimed Wednesday was bigger than what was called the “shock and awe” campaign against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in 2003.