Uncle Ismail's tragic story that began 58 years ago, the last of which was the martyrdom of 3 of his sons in an attack by ISIS terrorists

ARK News… Uncle Ismail, a Kurdish man from the Makhmour area in the Kurdistan Region, appears with teary eyes in many televised interviews in recent days, telling his tragic story that began long before he lost three of his sons who were martyred at once, in the fight against ISIS.

More than 30 ISIS militants, on Thursday, December 2, attacked the village of Khider Jija, the village of Uncle Ismail in the Makhmour area, an area located within the Kurdistan regions outside the administration of the Kurdistan Region or the so-called (disputed areas). The residents took up arms to defend themselves until the arrival of the Peshmerga forces, but this was not without a price.

Three cousins of Ismail, Nazim (24 years old), Azad (18 years old), and Barzan (11 years old) were martyred that night. One of the brothers who survived the attack said that Barzan, the youngest, was killed by an ISIS sniper while trying to hand him ammunition.

Footage and photos from the village of Khider Jija showed the effects of an ISIS terrorist attack, windows were smashed, concrete columns were toppled, and blood spread on the ground, what seemed clear in the visual footage circulated on social media, ISIS terrorists' use of heavy weapons, including RPGs in the attack.

However, the tragic story of Uncle Ismail did not begin with the latest ISIS attack, as he lost his parents and an older sister in 1963 when Iraqi militias affiliated with the dissolved Baath Party (then called the National Guard) attacked his village on suspicion of cooperation between the residents and the Peshmerga forces, who were fighting the Iraqi government at that time in defense of the rights of the people of Kurdistan.

Uncle Ismail, mourning the death of his sons, said that a militia (National Guard) overran his village when he was a young child. They dragged his parents outside, into the yard of the house, and shot them dead. Uncle Ismail's elder sister ran out of the massacre with an injury.

After 58 years, Uncle Ismail buried three of his sons next to his parents, but he looked strong when KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani visited him to offer condolences.

During his meeting with the Prime Minister, he said that he is proud of his family's sacrifices for the sake of Kurdistan and the rights of its people, saying: "I will not leave my village or abandon my people."

Uncle Ismail's wife, the mother of the three martyrs, also received patriotic and national praise for her strength, courage, and daring. She told reporters a day after the tragic loss that she is ready to sacrifice her remaining three sons for Kurdistan.

Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, called her "the lioness", saying that her words give us more morale and determination to continue the march and sacrifice for the sake of our people's higher causes, "and I thank her with all my heart," the Kurdish leader said.

On Sunday, three days after the ISIS attack, the Ministry of Education honored the memory of the youngest martyr of Cousin Ismail and the name Barzan was given to the village school, where he was studying in the fourth grade with his twin sister. They also remembered the little boy by placing flowers on his empty table.

Source: BasNews (translated from Arabic)

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