Redemption and revenge
Iraqi forces fighting a personal battle against Islamic State rule
QAYARA AIR BASE, IRAQ >> For Saif, an Iraqi army corporal, the battle for Mosul is intensely personal. Over the course of two years of Islamic State rule, the extremists destroyed his home, arrested his father, killed his brother and forced his fiancee into a marriage with an IS fighter.
Now he’s
“I used to be a normal person. My dream was just to save enough money to build a house so I could get married,” the 30-year-old soldier said, nervously fiddling with his cigarette.
All together seven members of his family were killed by the extremists, he said, giving only his first name because he didn’t have permission from commanding officers to talk to the media. He only found out about their deaths when he saw a video the militant looking for revenge. group released
“I know the man who killed my father and the man who killed my brother,” Saif said, flipping through screen grabs from the video he keeps on his phone. “And I know the woman who informed on them. She was our neighbor.”
Younis Atiya, of their a killings. Sunni tribal militia fighter, also frames the operation to retake Mosul as a chance at personal vengeance.
Atiya’s village on the edge of Nineveh province was retaken from IS earlier this year. Standing outside the building that was once his home he pointed to the spot outside the garden gate where he watched IS fighters abduct his father.
“They drove up to the house in a pickup truck. We saw them and tried to run away but it was too late,” he said. After holding his father for three days, IS killed him and dumped his body. Atiya’s relatives had to steal the body from the town morgue in order to give him a proper burial.
“I want to liberate Mosul to save people from the fate that my family suffered,” the 30-year-old fighter said. “I spent days here afraid of IS and I don’t want anyone else to be afraid. And I want to take revenge for my father.”