After a string of bombings in 2006, some of which targeted the city’s Shiite shrines of Imams Hassan al-Askari and Ali al-Hadi, Iraqi Shiite militia groups shuttered buildings and shops, and emptied houses in the old parts of the city close to the two shrines on grounds that terrorist groups were based in the area.
Seventeen years on, the military blockade has not been lifted and the city's inhabitants are urging the government to return life to normal, a call that has gone unheeded.
"This is what we have been suffering for 17 years, and this is what causes our heartbreak," Saleh sighed. "Many people left the city and tried to find work elsewhere."
With an estimated population of 200,000, Samarra, 124 km north of Baghdad, is one the largest cities in Salahaddin governorate.
According to data from local authorities, at least 660 buildings, 3,000 shops, 45 hotels, and dozens of other service projects are under military siege and their owners are not allowed to access them.
Security measures are strict here. Since 2007, al-Askari shrine has been one of the most heavily protected sites in Iraq. In order to even enter Samarra requires a sponsor from the city, forcing many people to leave in search of a more prosperous life elsewhere in the country.
Known as Iraq’s capital of Islamic civilization, the city is now described as a cemetery for the living.
"There is high unemployment and problems due to the measures taken. There is more than one security authority within the city of Samarra," said Mayor Bakr Muhammad Sharif, adding that the blockade has contributed to a significant rise in the poverty rate.
The mayor said they are trying to end the siege. "We are working... to dissolve many technical details that concern the administration of the [city]," he said.
