April the twelfth 1991, our camp around Suleimanyiah-city                                                                     Kurdistan, (Iraq)

Dangerous news: the Iraqi-troops approach. There is no more hope to save a free territory around here. The so called No-Fly Zone is no more and the Kurdish nationalist troops do not fight. They have already given up.

I fear for my mother’s life as she is still in the city. She is alone at her house awaiting me, my wife and our little daughter,Ala, who has been brought up by her. She wants to see us one last time before leaving forIran.

April the thirteenth 1991, Suleimanyiah-city

 

It is so wonderful to see my mother, safe, again. LittleAlahas got the most part of the pleasure. But our happy reunion is short-lived, as the heavy dark night with its black rain lurks around the corner.

There is no electricity or a drop of water in the pipes since the beginning of the war. However, a lot of black rain pours from the heavy black clouds above the city. Strange, isn’t it?Kuwaitis quite far away, but even here the clouds have been heavily smudged  by the thick smoke fromKuwait’s burning oil wells.

April the fourteenth 1991, Suleimanyiah-city

 

Danger is getting closer. Too few people remain in the city. Even those few are leaving quickly. We must send mother away and leave as well. They say that the troops shoot everything that moves and loot the houses and properties. They’ve already made a really spooky city ofKirkuk, the latest city they’ve occupied.

April the fifteenth 1991, Suleimanyiah-city

 

Luckily, we succeeded in sending mother back toIranat the last moment. Now we must save ourselves. We obviously cannot evacuate any furniture. We barely have time to remove everything from the front rooms to the backyard to make the house appear empty. Hopefully this way the troops will think the place is empty and will not bother looting it.

‘My goodness!’ cries Oze (my wife), `They are on the doorstep, already´. I jump up and say: ´So strange; without firing a shot?´ Then, I look through the window. Yes, there they are. Three troop-carriers are standing, a bit farther, in the street.

-Be careful dad; says my daughter; they will shoot you.

-We must finish the job; I say with a sigh; we still have time.

Alais so scared and we try to calm her down.

-It’ll be all right; my wife says with a shaky voice while trying to hide her own fear; things will sort themselves out in the end.

I help carry the last things to the back-yard.

A few moments later I can see the troops storming the house, as I keep watch through the narrow opening in the door of the room in which we are hiding. Yes; a half dozen soldiers, armed to the teeth, coming into the front-yard. They’re quite cautious and almost scared. Thus they do not want to come closer, furthermore, they think that the house is evacuated. Then, they leave as cautiously as they came. We breathe a sigh of relief.

April the sixteenth 1991, Suleimanyiah-city

 

We have to stay for a while, absolutely silent and quiet, without going out. However, we’ve got almost nothing to eat.

Some water, some flour and sugar and a bit of butter is all that we have. I suggest baking some cakes, but none of us have an appetite. It’s not the first time, for me and for my wife, to be in a ghostly town, but for our daughter it is all new.

April the seventeenth 1991, Suleimanyiah-city

Since we hear no noise, I tiptoe out very carefully.

-It’s quite strange; I say to my self; there are no troop-carriers in the street. It seems to be safe and quiet everywhere.

The phone lines are dead of course. Thus we cannot call anyone.

-Anyway, we have to get away as soon as possible; I suggest when I come back into the house.

Soon after, we are in the back-streets, traipsing to find the least dangerous way out of town. The troops are probably tired and think that there are not enough people remaining in the town to be worried about.

Two hours later, we are out in the forest in the suburbs, shambling towards our camp which is in our sight.