Journey of the family of Mosulia .. From occupation to liberation

Journey of the family of Mosulia .. From occupation to liberation


 Mosul / Translated by Ahmed Zubaidi

The mosque imams usually wear white clothes and speak calmly and convincingly. But the man who stood at the pulpit of the Grand Mosque in Mosul on Friday of July 2014 was different, threatening and threatening. "He was covered in black, wearing a black robe, a black turban and a black beard," says Yasser Samir Ahmed. You can barely see his face behind all this blackness. "
That man was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a jubilant leader, and Yasser was one of a few people willing to speak out about what he saw with his own eyes. He was present during Friday prayers, the only time Baghdadi appeared publicly, declaring himself the leader of the alleged Caliphate. And that moment, will become a turning point in the history of the
city.
Nearly three years later, Yasser and his family find themselves slipping into the ruins of the destroyed mosque when they fled fierce fighting in the Old City of Mosul. They were hungry and expected to shoot them at every turn.
Yasser 's journey provides an insight into the way in which he managed an organization calling for the city of Mosul. As the Iraqi government now faces the huge task of rebuilding the devastated city, his trip is also a warning about how to take advantage of the rare opportunity for the Iraqi security forces to rebuild their relationship with the citizens of Mosul.
A week after Yasser's escape and a group of relatives, including his father Samir Ahmed Sufi, left the deserted streets at dawn to reach the Iraqi military lines, sitting on a straw mat in an empty apartment in eastern Mosul. They bought new clothes, shaved their throats, and started eating again, but the consequences of the past few years were still chasing them. Yasser, 25, looks calm and shaved his beard. His 55-year-old father was wearing a white bathing suit;
His brothers Mohammed and Ahmed. Both were killed by a mortar shell attack on them when they brought water from Barekrib in May.
"When I lost my brothers, I lost all my beautiful memories." The
first thing citizens noticed in Mosul was that with the departure of the Iraqi army, they were able to move freely through the city for the first time in years.
Yasser and his two friends took advantage of it, passing deserted checkpoints to cross the Tigris River towards the Old City. " The old mosque was a major landmark in the city of Mosul and its minaret minaret, known as Hadba, became a symbol of the city. "Yasser Arafat's father, Samir, said:" The lighthouse was a symbol when entering the mosque. Yasir filmed the scene. An estimated 400 members of the crowd gathered inside. Al-Baghdadi began to say, "My friends, the government was pushing you to death.
Of which".
"When they came for the first time, they were a source of relief for some," said Yasir's father. "People welcomed people with da'ash because they suffered a lot when the army was here."
Although "the army was bad, the three years under the organization of the preacher was much worse."
In a climate of fear that reigns in the liberation of Mosul, many are concerned that association with an oppressive organization, however slight, can be the reason for detention, torture and even summary execution.
Even early, there were signs that life would not be advocated Be easy. Its components first removed cell towers in Mosul and satellite dishes, and cut off contact with the outside world. When the city became isolated, most people stopped working. While some civil institutions, such as garbage collection and medical care, have been operating, religious police have begun to enforce Islamic dress codes and ban smoking. "Then people started to understand who they really were," Samir said. It is estimated that the honeymoon lasted less than six months.
A year after a provocative invasion of Mosul, the coalition air campaign began targeting sites inside the city collectively. Electricity and other services have become irregular. Civilians have been executed by preachers for minor offenses such as owning a SIM card for a mobile phone and accidentally killing many in air strikes.
As the air campaign escalated in early 2016, Samir decided to move his family from the left coast to Mosul to the right. "When the coalition bombed the university, at least 300 people were killed," he said. "We thought we would be safe in the old city," he said.
Instead, the family became trapped on the right coast, unable to cross the Tigris River to the east. As Iraqi security forces moved toward Mosul in October, Dahesh fighters began preparing to complete their last defenses in the tightly fortified Old Town houses. "We were not allowed to leave," Samir said.
As Iraqi security forces liberated neighborhoods in western Mosul, the siege of the Old City began, and supplies fell. When his brothers were killed by mortar shells, Yasser and his father buried their bodies in a hole in the garden of their home. There was no time or space to dig two graves. As the fighting approached, the family moved again. A few days later, the house containing the grave of his two brothers was probably destroyed by an air raid or indirect fire by Iraqi forces.
"I often wish we were together," Samir said. "We lived in our days like the dead."
Finally, one morning, the entire family fled. "When we left the old city, I felt my eyes were about to come out of their place," Samir said. "We did not eat for days - we did not have water. In this case, we consider ourselves dead. "
When he saw his father, Al - Nouri mosque destroyed was influenced by a moment similar to the moment of the death of his sons." Even after all this tragedy, it was still a milestone "." When we lost the minaret, we felt Mosul was lost, " said Samir," but no one is resentful about the army now. "" I have lost two sons, "Samir said
.
It just happened to me. But sometimes you have to sacrifice for something bigger. "
The question now is how long this goodwill can remain, and Samir says," It depends on the army and its treatment of the population. "
When Samir spoke, Yasser went to look for pictures of his brothers - their only link And returned with two photos showing his brothers, who in the early 1920s wearing official photographs
, "I never returned to the Nuri Mosque after the speech of al-Baghdadi." "Many people stopped going to mosques."
But before they can resume their lives, they will have to go back. The tomb of Muhammad and Ahmad is close, and the family wants to secure their proper burial. Samir said , "I want to Advenhm on the left coast , " We have not mourning ceremonies for them so far. "

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