​​​​​​​From stories of Shengal massacre -1

He was captured by ISIS, but…

In the heat of July, we set out on the road towards a residential village. On the way, we found several bombed cars, and those cars had been gone off in the days of the firman. The more we progressed on the road, the more destroyed houses and buildings we saw. We passed a residential village and continued towards a mountain road, where a white dome caught our attention which was surrounded by a large shrine. This dome was for Sheikh Mand.

ISIS mercenaries had reached this point under Firman 03.08.2014, committed a large massacre, blew up the dome and burned buildings.

They also killed and kidnapped dozens of people, and the dome and its surroundings were the best reflection of the firman pain.

Mass graves, blown up cars, destroyed homes; is there anything more than this that could show the cruelty and brutality of ISIS mercenaries and their collaborators?

When we got to the dome, we turned the car to the right, where we found a large house in front of us. We waited there for a while and went down where we noticed that the family had prepared a place to rest on the right of the house from the heat, and after a warm welcome they hosted us in their house.

The place where we stood, the warmth of the family and the vitality around us against the heavy effects of the firman made people feel calm and peaceful.

We went to the house of Hussain Nayef Khder who was an employee to maintain the safety and protection of the dome. The dome was in Jadalah village, located on Uzair Hill. During the firman, Hussein and his family stayed in the place to protect it.

When we announced to Hussain our intention to form a program on the occasion of the firman's anniversary, he did not think long and said why not?

The desire is not to forget this date, the fact of Firman 03.08.2014 must remain in the memory of the Yazidi community and all of humanity in order to block the way for other firmans.

A person could see Hussein's thoughts through his opinions, perceptions, and his saying that a person's forgetting of their history is the loss of everything, it means exile.

'We are all as a family'

Hussein Nayef Khder is from the Semoqi tribe, and he is from the Dogri complex. They, as a family, have been taking care of the dome since 2005. Before that, his uncle used to take care of protecting the dome. After his uncle, Hussein Nayef Khder took charge and used to do his job perfectly. Until the firman, Hussein took over the work on a daily basis, and the people of the area managed to raise livestock.

According to Hussein, all the people of Jadalah were from here, and the communication between them was good. They used to help each other, they were like one family, and when you visited a house, you would have become a member of the family.

It is said that this dome was built in 1940. When ISIS mercenaries attacked Jadalah village, they initially blasted the dome of Sheikh Mand, killing about nine or ten residents of the village, burning buildings, occupying and seizing homes and property. They also confiscated all their property, as they stole their livestock and what they could of their cars, and they stormed their homes to loot and kill them. In the midst of this brutal attack, those who managed to save themselves ran away without being able to take anything from their homes, trying to save their families and children from the butchery, and Hussein Nayef Khder is one of those survivors of ISIS siege.

He fell at ISIS mercenaries' hands

According to what Hussein told us, they asked them why they fled, and they replied, "We were afraid because it was said that ISIS would behead us as soon as they found us, so we fled."

Hussein remained at the hands of ISIS for five hours, and according to him, most of ISIS militants were from Sulaymaniyah and Halabja. He added that most of them were Kurds. It was difficult for Hussein to see that he would be killed by Kurdish hands. When he remembers that the mercenaries of Halabja wanted to kill him and that the Arabs among them were the ones who did not allow this to happen, his pain increases.

In light of the feeling of fear and the question of when they would be killed, ISIS mercenaries asked them to bring their money in exchange for their lives and told them that they would execute them if they refused. Meanwhile, Hussein asked for their consent to allow them to bring what they wanted to them and on this basis they allowed Hussein to leave for a few hours. Hussein arrived at his home during the evening hours and did not return to Uzair Hill after that.

Martyr Delsher made many attempts

Many commanders and fighters took their place during the resistance and their fatigue and attempts were shown in the battles against ISIS and its allies, and Martyr Delsher Harkul (Hussain Ajar) was one of them.

At the beginning of the attack on Shengal, one of the commanders of the People's Protection Forces Delsher was martyred on April 19, 2020 in Amanos.

Martyr Delsher played a historic role during the Shengal resistance and gained a golden status in the Shengal people's hearts.

When Hussein Nayef Khder talks about the Guerilla Forces, he comes to mention Martyr Delsher. For Hussein too, Martyr Delsher was a valuable person and a great warrior.

Hussein says that they were alerted by the Guerrillas before the arrival of ISIS mercenaries to their village and that they advised them to protect themselves.

According to what Hussein says, Martyr Delsher Harkul came to their house with a group of Guerrillas and stayed there. At that time, Hussein and Jadalah people were warned and asked to take refuge in the mountains to avoid any massacres.

Hussein saw that the villagers did not take this warning seriously.

During the night, Martyr Delsher went to the village and told Hussein, "Tell people quickly to go to the mountains to save themselves, for the firman has begun."

When Hussein talks about those moments, he says that the people of the village turned their backs on the military force that was present in the name of protecting the area, and at the same time they believed ISIS rumors that their goal was not Shengal.

They preoccupied the Yazidi community by saying, "You will be protected by the Peshmerga forces of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Iraqi armed forces, so do not be afraid."

When the Yazidi community realized the gravity of the situation and realized that their real goal was to eradicate society, culture, language, and their existence as a whole, it was too late.

In fact, the force that the residents of Jadalah village relied on disappointed them and did not fire a single shot to protect them. They betrayed them, abandoned them and fled with their weapons and ammunition without leaving Yazidis with anything to defend themselves, and the result was an unmatched massacre.

D.H

ANHA