Body of Kurdish soldier returns home after 35 years

KIRKUK, Iraq - The lifeless body of a Kurdish soldier, killed during the Iraq-Iran War, was finally reunited with his loved ones on Tuesday night, after almost 35 years. 

The body of the soldier returned home to Kirkuk from war after being missing in Iran for almost 35 years. Hashim Azeez was 22 years old when he died during the bloody days of the Iraq-Iran War.

His lifeless body was returned, along with his small radio, still in his pocket. 

Hashim’s brother, Naji Azeez, told Rudaw that it was due to his radio and a bracelet that his body was eventually recognized. 

“Back then, every Iraqi soldier was given a bracelet with their name written on it,” the brother told Rudaw’s Hardi Mohammed on Tuesday.

His sister Gulekhan Azeez said that the last time she saw her brother alive, he said his goodbyes and apologized for any wrong he may have done, knowing that this would be the last time he would see his family. 

Hashim told his family he wanted to spend every last moment before his departure together. 

He was to leave the city for the last time in 1986, together with a friend who owned a truck, he returned to the battlefield. 

Hashim’s body was found in Iran and was transported to the Iraqi city of Basra, where the family members picked him up and took him to Kirkuk, where he was finally laid to rest.