TAL AFAR, Iraq — The situation in diverse Tal Afar, one of the last and strategically important ISIS bastions, is returning to normalcy nearly a year after its liberation.
"We suffered a lot during the period of ISIS. Now people are safe and we start to see good days," Abbas Mohammad Cemil, a shop keeper at the main bazaar, told Turkey's Demirören New Agency (DHA).
Iraqi Security Forces supported by Hashd al-Shaabi took control of the strategic city connecting Mosul and Raqqa after days of fighting in August 2017.
Cemil added people "live with love" but "the old days were terrible to us."
Much of the city of Tal Afar was destroyed during the ISIS conflict, including the 3,000-year-old castle, the university, hospitals and other buildings and houses.
"Most people have returned, 50 percent of the towns' people are returning to continue their lives," he said.
Tal Afar is home to a large number of Turkmen, as well as Kurds and Arabs.
Ali Felekoglu, a Turkmen resident, expressed how difficult it was to see their houses in ruins when they returned last year.
"Houses were destroyed, Hashd al-Shaabi and the state reconstructed them when they reclaimed the town," Felekoglu said. "The houses and roads were bombed. They cleared all of them. People started to return. Everything is going well."
The markets of hookah and tobacco — deemed haram by ISIS and thus forbidden — are back and youth smoke it freely, chatting and enjoying their time with ISIS out of their minds.
"The safest place is Tal Afar now," Felekoglu claimed.
So far 20,000 people have returned, according to Mohammed Abdulqadir, a local Hashd al-Shaabi official.
"We want people to return. Let us all be brothers and sisters. Those who say that Tal Afar's situation is bad, they lie," he claimed.
"Shiites, Sunnis, Christians and Yezidis live together in Tal Afar," added Zahra.
"We suffered a lot during the period of ISIS. Now people are safe and we start to see good days," Abbas Mohammad Cemil, a shop keeper at the main bazaar, told Turkey's Demirören New Agency (DHA).
Iraqi Security Forces supported by Hashd al-Shaabi took control of the strategic city connecting Mosul and Raqqa after days of fighting in August 2017.
Cemil added people "live with love" but "the old days were terrible to us."
"Now the situation is very good," he said. "We could not sell these colorful clothes at the time of ISIS. They came to us taking money from us in the name of Zakat."
Much of the city of Tal Afar was destroyed during the ISIS conflict, including the 3,000-year-old castle, the university, hospitals and other buildings and houses.
Malik Muhsin is a 16-year-old who left when ISIS arrived in 2014. He returned and discovered that his was house destroyed.
"Most people have returned, 50 percent of the towns' people are returning to continue their lives," he said.
Tal Afar is home to a large number of Turkmen, as well as Kurds and Arabs.
Ali Felekoglu, a Turkmen resident, expressed how difficult it was to see their houses in ruins when they returned last year.
"Houses were destroyed, Hashd al-Shaabi and the state reconstructed them when they reclaimed the town," Felekoglu said. "The houses and roads were bombed. They cleared all of them. People started to return. Everything is going well."
The markets of hookah and tobacco — deemed haram by ISIS and thus forbidden — are back and youth smoke it freely, chatting and enjoying their time with ISIS out of their minds.
"The safest place is Tal Afar now," Felekoglu claimed.
So far 20,000 people have returned, according to Mohammed Abdulqadir, a local Hashd al-Shaabi official.
"We want people to return. Let us all be brothers and sisters. Those who say that Tal Afar's situation is bad, they lie," he claimed.
Abu Zahra, another Hashd al-Shaabi leader, said ISIS "devastated Tal Afar,” but "we came to fight them."
"Shiites, Sunnis, Christians and Yezidis live together in Tal Afar," added Zahra.
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