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By Payraw Ahmed:
Erbil
ERBIL: 6th August, after coming back from work, another usual day – had discussion with colleagues about different subjects, it starts from chocolate then ends up talking about God. When I got home my mother was welcoming me like I am the most precious gift she will ever ask for. My father said “welcome back, son” in a way that shows admiration, although he doesn’t want to show it! Everything was normal, I went to my room and changed – I lay down on my bed and rested for a while.
Then I went online checking – what is new with Shingal (Sinjal: Yazedie town in so called “united country of Iraq”, its citizen’s follow an ancient religion of Zoroastrianism which is a Kurdish originated religion). What happened to Shingal was that a terrorist self-declared state ISIS (AKA ISIL: Islamic state of Iraq and Levant) attacked the town, taking took advantage of the security situation. It was secured by Kurdish forces (also called the Peshmerga, meaning “those who confront death[for their nation]”), but there weren’t enough of them to fight the wave of ISIS militias who attacked the town. Therefore, they were ordered to pull back, and tell the residents to evacuate from Shingal. Thus, a lot of citizens were captured, and brutally executed: “they chopped their head off” said one of witnesses – adding “after they told them to convert to Islam”!
A huge massacre, and roughly four hundred women were captured and sent to a place for female-trafficking: Jihad al-Nikah, meaning “using them to give birth to children, and use new born child later on for Jihad”. Shameful and sad stories all around Shingal plundered the mind of Kurds. Both YPG (Kurdish forces who control Kurdish parts of Syria) and KRG Pehsmerga (Kurdish forces who control Kurdistan region of Iraq) sent wave after wave to retake the town and other close-by areas, but each attempt failed to fulfill the missions, because Shingal is in a strategic place, and attacks from north won’t be that affective. Consequently, more than forty thousand residents of Shingal got stuck in the mountains for seven days already without food and water – surrounded by ISIS militias, and the only help they get is from air helicopters.
Every day ten or more people die in the mountains, because of dehydration and lack of food supply. Those who die are mostly children, buried one after another, and there is much more bitter news, unbearable to hear. Reading the news and watching videos only causes more pain and suffering. However, on 9th August, thousands of resident who were stuck in the mountain were rescued.
Same day, around 6:00 to 7:00 o’clock, the news spreads that ISIS were closing in on Erbil! They took Gwer and Makhmur, which are 30 to 40 km away from Erbil. Firstly, Erbil is a capital of the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan which covers a huge part of northern Iraq. Kurdistan region contains five cities – Slemany, Duhok, Kerkuk Helbja and Erbil as its capital. It’s been called “the other Iraq” or “heaven in Iraq” – businesses are booming and there is peace between different ethnicities and religions.
Now, ISIS is coming to attack Erbil! If the news is true, they will take us back centuries. Kurds reach for modernity, and they intend to no longer lag behind the 21st century. They fight flesh to bone, just to keep this serenity of the Kurdistan region. In the worldwide Kurdish-community it is called “southern Kurdistan”. I’m both angry and calm about what has happened. Angry because people are panicking, thousands of residents flee the city and go to other parts of the region. Calm because our Peshmerga force are well trained and well equipped; if ISIS attempt to reach Erbil, they must sacrifice hundreds of thousands. Even still it won’t be plausible. “How did this escalate so quickly?” I keep asking myself.
Well, it turned out not to be so complicated. ISIS are also well-equipped and they have smart strategist personnel. But that wasn’t exclusive news. So what was cause of all this? It was their method of attacking. They have two tactics: one surprise attack, second well-organized attack. Well-organized attacks happened in Mosul and other areas where they believe they have supporters (Sunni). It is executed in three main ways At first, they send in their “sleeper cells” with the wave of refugees who have fled from conflict areas and, when they attack the city, town or village, they riot and attack from within. Second, they use any means of communication, from word of mouth to smart social media announcements – scary announcements to make people either run away or stay, but stay prepared to fight or to join them. Then the last plan is that they send a small number of their militia, carrying the heads of people they’ve killed or any other scary symbols, and they fight brutally from far away until they get inside the city. Also, for surprise attacks, they attempt to massacre the citizens of a specific town, city or village – if their citizens are Christians, Yazidis or other religions – even Shiites and other elements of Islam which are considered as infidels.
Now the key question is: do they have any support within Erbil?
In Erbil you have all branches of Islam: Sunni, Shiite, Slafi and Baha’i – plus Takfiri. Takfiri are those who believe in strict Islamic sharia law to be implemented and carried out within the state – and, yes, they are everywhere, even inside Erbil. Erbil and Kurdistan in the bigger picture are admired for the diversity of religions and nationalities which coexist with tolerance and compassion. The ISIS plan for Erbil is particularly complicated. They want Erbil as a doorway to the West. They want Erbil to show their real power. They want Erbil’s resources. And they want to destroy its wellbeing. They are mentally sick people, after all.
What is ISIS’s main target? Every inch of West to be vanquished – the United States to be destroyed. Can they do that? One thing will clarify their ability, which is what they taught me. After they went to Shingal, thinking that next day they would change their route of invasion toward Erbil didn’t come to my mind, not even by chance. Nonetheless, they did try, though they didn’t come to Erbil. Peshmerga bravely repelled their attack, and desperately they are back to the house of feces in which they belong. They might attack again and again. They don’t want pleasure or anything except to fight Jihad. Their way of fighting is ugly. They don’t care if they are killed – they actually want to be killed. “They go to heaven” that’s what they have been manipulated into thinking. Allah is the only true deity, and we must live in his true Caliphate – brainwashed so radically, people travel from the west to fight with them.
ISIS can be a threat to west. Their way of fighting cannot be underestimated. After they take a city their numbers increase from hundreds to thousands. People join them and become pro-Jihadists. Then they take what they have gained from the fight: money, women and other resources. They mobilize their power, and they attack another place. They do the same things over and over again. Their number is growing, their resources are increasing. They are an international threat, and they are more dangerous than al-Qaeda.
What has ISIS taught me?
They showed me what a haunted city looks like. Erbil was a city of joy and sanity, now the bazaar is half empty, people are watching the news desperate to know what is heading towards them.
They taught me the feeling of extreme aggression and weakness. I’m studying business and management, and my smartest move will be to help my country out through what I have been studying. Well, I tried to join the Peshmerga because, once you are in this situation, the last thing your mind functions with is smartness. However, it was useless, I have no training, and there is no training base. Furthermore, the city is running out of guns and ammunition. Simply, I would be in the way.
They taught me – well, feel free to quote me: once you are born in Middle East, you are dumb not to become a solder.
They taught me that the United Nations is a joke. They couldn’t do anything about Syria, when ISIS was a small organization. They grew up there, and they reached Iraq. The United Nations, in one way or another, is responsible for ISIS’s growth.
The good thing they taught me: extreme nationalism has conquered my heart. I don’t want to live if Kurdistan is torn apart, which will never happen, can it?
Kurdish forces have experienced some sort of nationalistic unity: KRG, Peshmerga, YPG, other Kurdish Peshmerga forces from Iran, and PKK have joined the fight and confronted ISIS bitterly. It showed cohesion for Kurds, as stateless states from mother Kurdistan are defending and showing how each city or village is a red line that no one must be allowed to cross.
Payraw Omar Ahmed is a Kurd from Pshdar. He is a student at UKH (University of Kurdistan, Erbil) and also works in the advertising industry, as a Kurdish copywriter and social media manager.
