-
SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – Hajar Khalil, a 32-year old Peshmerga, died fighting to the end against the Iraqi army and the Shiite Hashd al-Shaabi advancing on Kirkuk on October 16.
He is among 26 Peshmerga confirmed killed during several hours of clashes in Kirkuk before the city fell to the Iraqi forces.
Hajar’s brother, Sivar, named after the Treaty of Sevres that promised Kurdish people an independent state after the First World War, described Hajar’s last moments.
“One of his friends was wounded. Hajar and his friend were PK machine gunners. He took his friend aside. He took his friend’s weapon as well. As I was told, he defended his position using the two weapons. He put a halt to the advancing forces. He kept on fighting so that others could leave and also remove the wounded. When the enemy was left with no other solution, they deployed a tank to take him out, an American tank whose speed is similar to a vehicle. He fought on until the tank ran over him.”
His family went to the place where he was last seen to search for his body. “Hajar, my Hajar,” his mother Leyla Najmaldin is heard crying in a video as she and her husband desperately searched for his dead body in the grass and a corn field.
“I searched in the grass. There was no dead body left. There were only two artillery machines, one PK machine gun, one DShk, and a burned pickup truck. They used the pickup like a kitchen where they had their meals. I rushed to the pickup and there I saw his cup, his spoon. I told [my husband] Khalil that these are our son’s belongings,” she said.
Khalil Mohammed, Hajar’s father, said they also searched a hospital in Kirkuk and then in Sulaimani, examining the bodies of other Peshmerga, looking for their son.
They finally found his body after Leyla recognized her son’s belongings.
“When I saw his body, he had his uncle’s beads in his pocket. The bullet belt of the PK machine gun was fastened to his body. We could not remove it from his body even when we buried him. We removed the beads. We cut one support bandage, but the other one was left in his boot, intact.”
His mother described how his body was found – in pieces.
“When I went to the mortuary, I saw one leg here and another there – until this half of his body,” she said while pointing to her waist as she wore the support bandage she recovered from her son’s belongings.
To confirm identification of Hajar’s body, the family relied on a DNA test.
Leyla says her son died for Kurdistan.
Hajar’s father, Khalil, said he has pride in his son’s sacrifice for Kurdistan.
“I am now proud. Since he fought for Kurdistan, I keep my head high. It is for the sake of Kurdistan,” he said, trying to wipe away his tears. “I am proud of him. The news of his death went viral among the party, our relatives, and across Kurdistan.”
Pictures of Hajar show him painting the flag of Kurdistan at the frontline. The same flag he painted was vandalized when Iraqi forces and Shiite militia took over the Peshmerga position near Kirkuk.
A Kurdish flag now flies high next to his grave.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment