The Darkness of War

The Darkness of War

Soran Qurbani

Half a decade of brutal fighting against the group known as ISIS has dominated much of life in northern Iraq & Syria. The sectarian violence perpetrated by the group inflicted deep wounds and left a deadly trail that cut across religious, ethnic, tribal, and territorial lines. Their followers used mass-murder and weaponized rape throughout the cities and villages they controlled. These methods of war were an attempt to build a sadistic caliphate and realize their twisted version of a ‘pure’ Islam.

ISIS sought to re-engineer society and religion, but as their vision has been systematically dismantled by a coalition of global and local allies, those who live in the region are left to rebuild their lives. Those that remain are fighting now, not with rifles and RPGs, but through a return to normalcy, through the pursuit of ambitions put on-hold, through the silent protest that is the embrace of art, history, culture, fashion, the richness of a diverse society, and so many other aspects of a free society.

A five months long house to house battle turned almost 80 percent of the town into rubbles. Each side to avoid to be visible used huge curtain to block the sight in order to move freely. A few months after the battle ended these curtains could be seen in destroyed battlefield site.
A five months long house to house battle turned almost 80 percent of the town into rubbles. Each side to avoid to be visible used huge curtain to block the sight in order to move freely. A few months after the battle ended these curtains could be seen in destroyed battlefield site.
A member of US backed Syrian democratic forces (SDF) is taking his position as ISIS carried a counter attack. The house was sat in fire by ISIS before retreating. At this stage ISIS was surrounded by four sides and had no any exit possibilities. As a result over 70000 families and ISIS fighters handed themselves to the SDF.
As a field commander of Iraqi special forces (ISAF) is trying to lactate their position on the map, wondered family worryingly observing him and his unite. The house to house battle of Mosul took nearly a year and left the west side of the city fully destroyed.
After a year of the liberation of Kobane, a small town on the border of Syria and Turkey, the Kûrdish population of the town began to return and rebuild their distorted houses. Every Thursday and Fridays the town witnessed weddings while the fight against ISIS was going on less than one hundred miles away. It was the time that wedding and funeral could be seen at the same day
A group of Iraqi fire fighters trying to control the fire of one of burning oil wells that exploded by ISIS. The fire brigade were from Kirkuk, the mix city in the north and the group was made of Kurds, Arabs, Turkeman , Muslim and Christians and somehow represented entire Iraq.
A group of ISIS widows known as ISIS brides are going to be transferred on lorries to AlHol camp where 75000 ISIS families are settled. Everyday a large group of ISIS families went out from the last pocket of ISIS in Baghouz and handed themselves to the SDF and US led coalition forces. Most of these women had very young children that were hungry and ill. After a short test and providing basic food and water they were traveling g 200 miles north to be screened and settled in the camp
The body of an ISIS fighter who was killed in an air strike in early January 2017 in Andelos neighbourhood of Mosul. The house to house fighting between Iraqi forces and ISIS left the city devastated and many dead bodies were abandoned in the streets that locals had to bury them or left to be eaten by the street animals.
Mahmoud, 38 years old Arab fighter from Hajin, the father of four children is taking part in the last offensive against ISIS. In early 2014 ISIS slaughtered about 3000 men from Mahmoud?s trip because they denied ISIS supremacy. Mahmoud and a group of Shahitat trip are looking to revenge for the lose of their men. 11. Hajin , Syria Dec 2018. A view of distractions of Hajin, one of the last strongholds of ISIS near DirAzzor. The town was captured by ISIS in early 2014 and believed that 3000 men from a local tribe known as Shahitat , who refused to obey the extremist group were slaughtered. Hajin became a ghost town as a result of a month long fighting.
A view of distractions of Hajin, one of the last strongholds of ISIS near DirAzzor. The town was captured by ISIS in early 2014 and believed that 3000 men from a local tribe known as Shahitat , who refused to obey the extremist group were slaughtered. Hajin became a ghost town as a result of a month long fighting.
An Iraqi soldier shows the document of the killed man that indicate that he was a field comannder of ISIS. He was killed in an air strike in the East side of the city of Mosul in the early days of 2017. Mosul, the second biggest city of Iraq was captured by ISIS in June 2014 and Abubakir AlBaghdadi announced his self claimed Khaliphate from the great AlNuri mosque of Mosul.
Khadija, 58 year old local woman, mother of five children is collecting scraped metals from the site of AlNuri mosque, where Abubakir AlBaghdadi announced his self claimed Khaliphate in 2014. Khadija is making 4 to 6 Iraqi thousand (3-5$) everyday and has to feed her children. She said that her husband killed during the bombardment of the city. Many widows in Iraq have to make their livings and support their orphans as their husband either killed by ISIS or were ISIS members and killed in the air strike or in the battlefield.
A group of ISIS widows known as ISIS brides are going to be transferred on lorries to AlHol camp where 75000 ISIS families are settled. Everyday a large group of ISIS families went out from the last pocket of ISIS in Baghouz and handed themselves to the SDF and US led coalition forces. Most of these women had very young children that were hungry and ill. After a short test and providing basic food and water they were traveling g 200 miles north to be screened and settled in the camp
Mahmoud, 55 year old track driver is staring at the ISIS bodies that he collected from the ruins of Kobane and buried in group. After the liberation of Kobane, everyday , Mahmoud and group of volunteers were loooking for dead bodies of ISIS fighters and remove them from the town and buried them in the outskirts of Kobanê. He described his job as ugly and holly at the same time as he believed that the dead person most be buried. But the contrary was that the ISIS bodies were buried in group and without any dignity or ceremony. Jut four months later Mahmoud was killed in an ISIS ambush.
A mother of a female fighter who?s attending her daughter?s funeral who was killed in the battle against ISIS during Manbij offensive. She was surrounded by her relatives and the local people who want to show their solidarity with the family of what they called Martyr. Since the beginning of ISIS attack on Kobane in mid December 2014, Syrian Kurds lost over 11000 men and women in the direct clashes. Kûrdish women became the symbol of resistance against ISIS brutality and misogynistic ideology.
A glimpse into the destroyed city of Kobanê where witnessed a five month long bloody battle. The Kurds describe the fight as one of the historical resistance in the modern history. On the other hand ISIS seen their war as a holy and a way to guarantee after life eternity.
Sewe, 18 years old Ezidi(Yazidi) woman who was enslaved by ISIS from Sinjar, Iraqi, in August 2014 and now fled Baghouz with ISIS families. She was only 13 year old when was kidnapped and now has three children from her kidnapper. During nearly five years of enslavement she forgot her mother younger , Kurdish, and forced to cover herself according to the ISIS dressing codes. It?s believed that over 7000 Yazidi women and children are enslaved and nearly half of them managed to go home. The destiny of the rest is unknown to these days. Yazidi women are seen as the real victims of ISIS brutality and misogynistic idea of this extremist group.
Leila 30 a local comannder of YPJ, walking through the former ISIS prison where many locals and international hostages kept, tortured and killed. The jail is beneath the main football stadium of Raqqa which known as the black stadium to the locals. It?s believed that James Foley and Kenji Goto and other foreign aid workers and journalists were kept here. ISIS made a network of tunnels and chamber rooms both as prison and defending position.
A group of the SDF fighters have evacuated two injured comrades on the back of military jeep to Hajin filed hospital. The coalition of Arab and Kurdish forces have lost over 12000 men and women during a half decade fight against ISIS.
An old member of ISIS is been searched by the SDF fighter after he handed himself to US led coalition forces. He claimed that he was fled from Bashar Assad atrocities to the ISIS territory since 2014. Later his name was found amongst wanted members of the ISIS. In March 2019 ISIS lost its last controlled territory in Syria and the physical khaliphate has ended.
Nuh, an Arab member of SDF is heavily injured during the battle of Hajin, one of the last offensive against ISIS in Syrai. Nuh is transferred by a military jeep to the nearest field hospital in Hajin. Nuh is a member of Shahitat tribe that are slaughtered by ISIS in 2014.
Wherever ISIS group captured they put their ideological signature there. One of those signature was destruction of ancient sites and any form of art that represented human being. According to their ideology picturing human in any shape and form is banned and must be destroyed. In Kobane, they even destroyed this painting of a tailor shop that portrait a woman without hijab.
The funeral of an Arab fighter killed in Manbij offensive. His younger sister holds his picture during the funeral attended by many locals. During each offensive against ISIS the small town of Kobane hosted big funerals almost everyday and each ceremony became a tool to mobilise more young men and women to join the fight.
Shervan, 26 year old Kûrdish comander rests after a long night of heavy clashes in the outskirts of Manbij, north of Syria where was under ISIS control. Manbij was key city for ISIS where believed that Paris attack was planned and commanded from there and was a bridge between Raqqa and Turkey for the move of smuggled oil and fighters.
The remaining of a dead dog killed during the five months long battle of Kobanê between so called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria(ISIS) and Kûrdish people?s protection unites(YPG). During this battle almost 80 percent of the town on Syria-Turkey border destroyed
A family is returning to the west side of Mosul after months of displacement. Now they are wondering around and have surprised to see the scale of distraction. This side of the city that known as the old Mosul is still not recovered due to the large scale of distraction and huge amount of rubbles.
Egid, 28 year old Kurdish fighter removed an ISIS flag from the building in Baghouz area during the last battle against the ISIS. Egid joined the YPG ranks in Early 2015 and was fighting none stop and lost most of his best comrades as he describes them. When I asked him to describe his experience and the raise and fall of ISIS, he said it was all Sand and blood, as they were never here but only took blood and left sand.
Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0

Subscribe

Subscribe now to our newsletter

Office : 39 John Street, Studio 2B-2 New York, NY 10038

© 2024 Middle East Images, LLC.