An investigation into the fates of 20 cancer patients in Neighbourhood 201 in Baqubah, and the geographical scope of their cases which cover the area of Tower 716, operated by the telecommunications company Asiacell. Do mobile towers cause cancer? Why are people dying in this place? A residential area evacuated by a tower which is splitting families apart.

In the peak of summer 2023, the residents of neighbourhood 201 in the Al-Mafraq area, west of Baqubah, were protesting in a tent beneath a telecommunications tower that has been there for 15 years, which they believe is the cause for the spread of cancer cases in the area. 

Official reports indicated over 20 cancer cases in this neighbourhood, with a distribution map showing the cases concentrated around Tower 716, operated by Asiacell. 

The community successfully had the tower removed after forming environmental committees to investigate numerous violations committed by Asiacell during and after the tower’s installation. The cases were related to the tower’s specifications and the non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation it emits in the residential area, along with additional dishes installed after obtaining official approvals.  

Today, their battle is in the courts. They seek to hold the company accountable for the deaths of over 20 cancer patients, while other patients fight for their lives, burdened by high financial costs imposed by the healthcare system and the rising cost of treatments.  

Researchers and specialists in telecommunications, radiation, and medicine confirmed that proving a conclusive link between mobile towers and cancer is difficult and has not been explicitly accepted by academic and scientific institutions to date. However, the possibility that it is causing tumours is a valid concern and not to be dismissed, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). 

Injuries 

The story of the cancer-causing tower in the Al-Mafraq neighbourhood dates back to 2009 when its roots were established in the ground, and it stood towering over the area. It was then that the suffering of the residents began. Raddam Hilal, a prominent representative of the victims’ families, asserted that the number of cases is much higher than what has been officially reported. 

The first cases emerged in 2011, involving two sisters aged 5 and 7 who developed brain cancer, and who lived directly across from the tower. 

Jummar reached out to Khalid Hussein, one of the affected individuals. His brothers, Kharisan, 60, and Walid, 47, both developed cancerous tumours and passed away after long and exhausting treatment. Kharisan was diagnosed in 2019 with rectal cancer, and despite undergoing continuous treatment for over four years and traveling to India for care when the disease spread to his liver and lungs, his journey ended in death at the end of 2022. 

Before Kharisan’s death, his brother Walid was diagnosed with lung cancer. The illness allowed him only seven months to live. “I was running between this one and that one,” Khalid recalled, recounting his story of selling the family home and spending over 50 million Iraqi dinars on his brother’s treatment. “I bought a single injection for 1,000 dollars every 20 days.” Khalid’s own treatment costs amounted to nearly 17 million dinars. 

Real Estate Cancer 

Cancer has turned the neighbourhood into something akin to a ghost story. Homeowners abandon their houses and tenants flee the area one after another. Some houses sell for less than their actual value. 

Raddam recounted the story of one of the worst houses, located right next to the tower. “After the spread of cases, the house remained empty for nearly five years. Its owner tried to sell it at a lower price. Eventually, someone from outside the area bought it because they saw the price as reasonable.” However, the new owner was forced to sell it at an even lower price just months later to another person, who then rented it out to a very small family—a young married couple—who lived there for one year. The wife then developed a tumour. The subsequent tenant also experienced the same fate, for his wife also developed cancer. 

Despite the tower being dismantled and relocated about a year ago, residents of the neighbourhood are still gripped by fear and terror.  

Raddam lives in the most affected block. The number of cancer cases exceeds the number of houses. He went through each of his neighbours’ homes, totalling nine, and counted ten cancer cases among them. Four of those cases were distributed across two houses. Raddam’s block is located directly across from the tower, separated by a street only 10 metres wide. 

Like others, Raddam was forced to rent a house away from the area for several months. He and many others decided to return once the tower was removed. 

Cases 10 and 11 

Raddam held a thick file of medical reports and death certificates from residents of Al-Mafraq. He cannot forget case number 10—his wife. He travelled with her to India for treatment to stop the cancer spreading in her body. He had to return to India again for further treatment. During hospital visits, Raddam also underwent specialised gland tests after suspecting an infection. The tests revealed that he had thyroid cancer. 

Raddam chose not to inform his wife about his diagnosis. Her condition was already bad, and she was undergoing radiation treatment. “When I had the thyroid removed, I told my wife it was a benign tumour, and that the doctor had advised me to have it removed.”  Even when this investigation was being written, Raddam continued to hide the truth from her, fearing that the news might break her, as she is continuing on a long treatment journey. 

Raddam said, “When I showed a picture of the tower to Dr. Amal Roy Chaudhary, the head of the radiation department at Fortis Hospital in India, he told me he was certain of a link between the tower and the cancer cases.” He added, “When he knew the number of cases in the area, the doctor was shicked  and even more convinced.” 

During his two treatment trips to India, Raddam spent over 36,800 US dollars, in addition to the ongoing exorbitant treatment costs in Iraq. 

Why are the cases only here? 

In August 2023, protests by the residents gained wider attention when they set up a sit-in at the foot of the tower. The sit-in site became a focal point for media and political figures as the timing coincided with upcoming local elections. Representatives of the residents met with the Ministers of Health and Communications, and teams from both ministries arrived to assess the situation, as did the Environmental Directorate in Diyala. 

The residents were unaware of the results of ensuing reports, but it became evident that the Environmental Director stated that the tower’s frequency levels were within the environmental standards. However, Qahtan Al-Hallak, the brother of one of the cancer patients who lives near the tower, questioned, “Why are the cases only here? And they decrease the further we get from the tower?” He also noted that the environmental teams took samples of soil and drinking water and said that they found no signs of contamination. 

In a report from the Diyala Environmental Directorate, which was obtained by Jummar, the environmental team indicated that they took samples of drinking water for laboratory testing and stated that they would inform the relevant authorities of the results at a later date. 

An anonymous source at the Environmental Directorate stated, “The tests for this tower and others came back normal and within permissible limits.” The general impression among residents was that some official entities may be colluding to protect Asiacell, the company owning the tower, shielding it from legal responsibility for the harm it has caused. 

The company removed the tower following the protests, which added to suspicions and is seen as an evasion of responsibility, according to Raad Al-Dahlaki, a member of the Iraqi Parliament from Diyala. He told Jummar that the tower is “the most damaging in Diyala”. 

Al-Dahlaki talked about a team from the Ministry of Health that conducted a site inspection in the area before the tower was built, under the direction of the Minister of Health. They submitted a report that “was not delivered to me, but I understood that it clearly indicated significant negligence and misuse”. He criticised the provincial administration for its failure to follow up on such an issue that directly affected people’s lives. 

The MP believes that the telecom company’s aim is financial, focusing on reducing the number of towers rather thasn implementing necessary preventive measures. 

Condemnation of the Telecom Company 

In the report from the Environmental Directorate in the province which Jummar obtained, there was an accusation made against the company that they had committed legal violations in the installation and operation of the tower. Among these violations was the addition of multiple antennas to the tower, contrary to the environmental guidelines for radiation protection from mobile phone towers. Due to these being primary stations, adding antennas required obtaining additional environmental approvals. 

The report also confirmed that the tower had been converted into a major station that fed over 37 other towers, with a range extending tens of kilometres. However, the approvals that Asiacell had obtained assumed that the tower would be classified as a small station of type C, according to Instruction No. (1) of 2010, concerning protection from non-ionizing radiation emitted by mobile phone towers. 

After the Governor of Diyala visited the protest tent, assessed the horrific situation in the area, and read the environmental report, he personally decided to break into the tower and shut down its equipment. What happened next was completely unexpected. An official security force returned to the tower that evening and restarted the tower. 

Raddam stated that he spoke with the Governor’s office director by phone while the security force was present at the tower. The director informed him that they were compelled to restart the tower because communication services had either completely stopped or significantly weakened in some areas. 

Raddam added that the weak connection coincided with the participants’ march during the Arba’in, the Shia religious pilgrimage to Karbala. The communication service through Asiacell was not only affected in Baqubah; the signal weakness reached the Bani Saad district, which is about 23 km away. Raddam mentioned that they later learned about the damage to communication networks at the entrance to Baghdad-Diyala, which is approximately 50 km away. 

Types of Towers  

According to Hamadi Al-Freiji, a consulting engineer, communication towers consist of two types of antennas. The first type are sector antennas, which are vertical in shape, with three installed on each tower. Each antenna covers 120 degrees, providing mobile phone coverage in all surrounding directions. The second type are dish antennas, which are specialised in exchanging information and sending signals to other towers. 

Al-Freiji noted that the allowed frequency for dish antennas ranges between 6-30 GHz which he considers very high and dangerous. He explained that if a malfunction affected the direction of the dish, causing it to tilt downwards instead of broadcasting towards other towers, it could lead to significant issues. He emphasised the need to reduce the usage and number of these types of antennas in residential areas to avoid potential harm. 

Al-Freiji, who previously worked as a judicial expert in the field of telecommunications, said that the logical number of dishes on each tower was no more than five dishes if the tower served as a Base Transceiver Station (BTC). If it is merely a Cell Tower (BTS), the number should be even lower. A higher number of dishes transforms the tower into a Node, which connects multiple other towers and exchanges information with them via dishes. He stressed that this type of tower requires increased power and should be located outside of residential areas to avoid potential disasters for residents. 

He also noted that converting the tower from a standard station into a Node required holding the company accountable, as the license granted for the tower specifies its features and size. Changes to these specifications are not permitted, as they violate environmental rules and regulations. 

Immense Capacity 

When the Environmental Directorate’s report deemed that the tower in the Al-Mufaraq neighbourhood was a violation, it issued a warning to the company to rectify the infractions within 10 days. Jummar obtained a photo of the tower taken just weeks before its removal, showing it covered with over 20 dishes. Residents noted that the picture was taken after a number of dishes had already be removed. 

The letter from the Environmental Directorate to Asiacell, which proves that the company committed violations by adding dishes without environmental approval, along with a photo of the tower taken by a local resident shortly before its removal, revealing it to hold around 20 antennas. 

Dr. Raad Sobhi, a professor of telecommunication engineering, stated, “The presence of more than 20 dishes within a residential area was a huge resource on the neighbourhood, which is a clear violation”. He explained that while the dishes may be aimed at other towers, their emissions are not a straight line like laser beams. Instead, they spread in a spiral pattern throughout the neighbourhoods. He also pointed out that there was a back power returning to the antenna that needed to be accounted for. 

Dr. Sobhi warned of the high frequency of these dishes stating, “If we assume the frequency is 30 GHz, that means there are thirty billion waves per second, with each wavelength comparable to the size of a human cell. This increases the likelihood of interaction with the human body.”  

However, he also noted that the connection between high frequencies and cancer is not definitively proven but is possible, “especially after the fourth generation, as the frequencies have become very high.” 

Are Measuring Devices Accurate? 

Iraqi law has set the maximum permissible density of power emitted by telecommunications towers at 0.4 mW/cm². This is the value that the Environmental Department confirmed to Jummar should not be exceeded by all telecommunications towers in the province. It is measured using the department’s device (SRM 3006), although they have not disclosed the values obtained from field measurements of the towers, even in their report regarding the Al-Mafraq tower. 

However, a study obtained by Jummar, presented by researcher Marwan Abdul Ibrahim for his master’s degree in 2017 entitled “Spatial Variation Analysis of Health and Economic Impacts of Mobile Phones and Their Towers in Baqubah” revealed other facts. The researcher, along with a specialised engineering team from the Environmental Department, measured radiation levels in various neighbourhoods of Baqubah. 

The researcher found that the highest level of radiation emitted from mobile phone towers in Baqubah came from the tower opposed by residents in Al-Mafraq, measuring 0.005 mW/cm². He attributed this high value to the neighbourhood’s population density. 

Despite this, the value obtained by the researcher, using the same Environmental Department device, remained below the established environmental standard limit of 0.4 mW/cm². However, the discrepancy between the two values is significant, as the researcher’s value is about 80 times lower than the standard value, raising new questions about the accuracy of the readings from the device. 

According to engineer Hamadi Al-Fraiji, a reading of 0.005 mW/cm² is implausible. He suggested that such a level could only be detected after the tower’s system had been turned off for some time but would be impossible while the tower is operational. 

Al-Fraiji attributed this stark discrepancy to the outdated measuring devices used and the lack of reliance on more modern equipment. The officially approved measurement device at the Environmental Directorate, the SRM 3006, is an old device that does not provide direct measurements but generates plots that are reorganised and calculated using a computer which includes a margin for human intervention in entering numerous values that appear in the plot and conducting the necessary calculations to determine power density. Since the device is officially approved by state institutions, it is also accepted in legal matters. 

Complaints 

According to Abdullah Al-Hayali, the mayor of Baqubah, there are between 40 and 50 telecommunications towers within the residential neighbourhoods of Baqubah. Homeowners and landowners are enticed by financial incentives to sign contracts which allow for the installation of towers on their rooftops or land.  

Al-Hayali added that the towers have become a concern for residents, especially after what happened in Al-Mafraq and other neighbourhoods. “A few days ago, Zain attempted to install a new tower west of Baqubah, but residents refused and prevented them.” 

Jummar spoke with several homeowners and landowners who had agreed to rent out their rooftops for the installation of telecommunications towers. They revealed that telecom companies offered to place towers on their rooftops in exchange for a monthly rent of $500, along with a free connection to the tower’s power generator. 

If the tower is ground-based, the monthly rent is about $800, which includes a free electricity line. Additionally, such a tower typically employs three guards, with a salary of around $200 each. Some or all of them may be from the landowner’s family. 

Al-Hayali was sceptical about the existence of precautionary measures in the installation of towers. “Doctors and experts have told me that the increase in antennas and transmitters could play a role in cancer cases, which is why I requested that the Communications and Media Commission (CMC) forms an evaluation committee.” 

Complaints are not limited to Al-Mafraq. There are approximately 12 similar complaints about other towers in the province, according to a source in the Environmental Department. These complaints have involved multiple towers from various telecommunications companies. 

One of these towers is in the village of Al-Khowails, southwest of the Khales district, along the road connecting Baghdad and Kirkuk. Abu Benin, the village chief, stated that there have been 42 cancer cases reported, with 20 of them resulting in death, all of whom had lived within 300 metres of the tower. 

The stories of the two towers and the series of events surrounding their conflict with telecommunications companies are similar. However, the affected residents in Al-Khowails, who began their protests in 2012, later lost their lawsuit against the company and were forced to wait for the contract between the company and the landowner to expire. To their surprise, the contract was renewed, leading to renewed protests. 

These protests resulted in the tower being forcibly shut down and prevented from operating, despite interventions from officials whom residents believe were colluding with the company at the expense of the victims. “We kicked out the officials because we are going to die anyway,” said Abdul Hadi Aloush, who lost both of his parents to cancer—his mother was diagnosed in 2011 and died in 2013, while his father was diagnosed in 2019 and passed away in 2021. 

Residents in Al-Mafraq and Al-Khowails have reported warnings regarding the dangers of living near the towers, which were communicated verbally by employees from the Environmental Department during field inspections. However, these warnings were not documented in official reports, increasing the residents’ belief in collusion benefiting the companies and a lack of transparency in official documentation. 

The lawsuits filed by residents against the company are still progressing slowly, but they insist on continuing their fight to the end, despite being aware of the significant influence wielded by the telecommunications companies. 

During this investigation, Asiacell attempted to install a new tower in Al-Mafraq, just 300 metres away from the site of the previous tower. This presented another challenge for Raddam and his neighbours to deal with. However, they were unable to prevent the company from proceeding with the installation. The tower now stands atop one of the buildings in the neighbourhood, despite residents having filed an official complaint.