ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Celebrations for Akitu, the Babylonian-Assyrian New Year have been cancelled in Iraq due to the ongoing war in the region, the Assyrian Democratic Movement (Zowaa) announced Saturday.

This year’s Akitu comes amid near-daily drone and missile attacks across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, as the country has been subjected to attacks from both sides of the US-Israel war with Iran.

In a statement, the party’s festivities committee said the celebrations set for between April 1 and April 12 have been cancelled “due to the ongoing war in the region and its impact on Iraq and its security, and in order to preserve the public safety of our Chaldean-Syriac-Assyrian people.”

“Celebrate this national holiday in your own way, as a national tradition, among family members at home, in your village, and in your neighborhood, without large gatherings, in celebration of the New Year and in invoking the spirit of April: renewal, life, and freedom,” it added.

Since the US-Israel war with Iran started in late February, Iraq has been the only country to be subjected to attacks from both sides of the war, with Iran and its proxies targeting US interests in the country, and US-Israeli strikes on pro-Iran militia groups

Akitu, one of the world’s oldest recorded New Year celebrations dating back over 4,000 years ago, is marked on the Spring equinox and celebrates the renewal of life, agricultural fertility, and victory of order over chaos. Hundreds of Chaldeans, Assyrians, and Syriacs across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region celebrate the occasion annually.