Iraq
Iraqi border guard Abu Bakir al-Samarayi before being beheaded by the Islamic State (ISIS) in February 2017 in the Anbar province. Photo: Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – One chilly evening in late January 2017, first lieutenant Abu Bakir al-Samarayi was driving with two other members of the Iraqi border guards back to Baghdad from the border area with Saudi Arabia where they were trying to fight Islamic State (ISIS).
Their car broke down in Al-Nukhib, 300 km southwest of Baghdad. The men disappeared on the road after their cars broke down.
In early February 2017, Samarayi and the two other Iraqi soldiers were murdered by ISIS militants.
Al-Samariyi was beheaded by ISIS, and the video of the beheading was published by ISIS on its propaganda channels back at the time.
Two years since the beheading Samarayi, his body was discovered by the 45th brigade of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, also known as Hashd al-Shaabi) in the town of al-Qaim west of Baghdad on Friday. The PMF are an anti-ISIS fighting force, and part of Iraq’s security forces. Some of its units receive support from Iran.
The PMF unit identified Samarayi’s body after the military intelligence branch known as Falcon Cell detained his murderers in the deserts of Anbar, according to a statement released by PMF on Friday.
“The Hashd al-Shaabi’s 45th brigade discovered the body of the deceased martyr Abu Bakir al-Samarayi,” said the group.
Samarayi was a first lieutenant in the border guards unit of the Iraqi army. He was born in 1986, and lived in Baghdad with his family, according to Iraqi media reports.
He was kidnapped with two others by the Islamic State (ISIS) militants in late January 2017 in the southern parts of the western Anbar province, on the Anbar-Karbala road.
In an interview in February 2017, Samarayi’s brother told al-Fallujah TV that the family was in close contact with the ISIS militants who kidnapped him.
“We were ready to pay whatever they want to set my brother free,” Samarayi’s brother said.
One ISIS fighter they were in contact with was angry that Samarayi, whose first name is common for Sunni Muslims, was working with the Iraqi government, which is mostly led by Shiite Muslims.
“The ISIS terrorist told us ‘how come a person named Abu Bakir is working for the Iraqi government,’” said the brother.
Samariyi’s brother revealed that the two others who were kidnapped alongside his brother were also killed by ISIS.
“The ISIS militant who was exchanging texts with us vowed to find our house in Karbala city and kill all the family,” he said.
The family asked many times to talk to Samarayi, but the ISIS militants were refused every time, according to his brother.
Many Iraqis felt miserable and reacted with sadness on social media platforms after receiving the news of Samarayi’s death at the hands of ISIS.
Many shared photos of the moment of Samarayi’s beheading, since he held his head high in that moment, in a symbol of defiance.
Ahmed al-Asadi, a member of the Iraqi parliament and senior PMF leader, said that Samarayi’s murderers were detained by PMF in Anbar last week.
“It is with great honor and joy that the 45th brigade of PMF in Anbar detained the murderers of the ‘hero’ Abu Bakir al-Samarayi,” Asadi told Rudaw English on Saturday. “PMF units, as part of the Iraqi security apparatus, are responsible for maintaining security side by side with the Iraqi army in all parts of Iraq and hunting down ISIS terrorists everywhere in the country.”
Asadi also revealed that detaining the murderers of al-Samarayi was not during the fourth phase of the anti-ISIS “Will of Victory” operation, but during an operation the 45th brigade of PMF conducted last week in western Anbar.
Apart from Western journalists and aid workers, the religious radicals have beheaded hundreds of local people, including soldiers.
In 2015, a Peshmerga soldier named Hujam Surchi was beheaded in Mosul in front of a large crowd. The gruesome murder of Surchi sparked public outrage in the Kurdistan region with many demanding the killer be found and brought to justice.
ISIS sized vast areas of northern Iraq in the summer of 2014. At the height of its power between 2014 and 2016, ISIS controlled an area roughly the size of Great Britain, spread across both Iraq and Syria.
Although the jihadist group was declared defeated in Iraq in December 2017, its remnants have retreated into Iraq’s deserts and mountains, where they have resumed earlier hit-and-run tactics of kidnappings, ambushes, bombings, and executions, working as sleeper cells.
Since January, there has been a spate of ISIS kidnappings and murders in similarly secluded spots to where Samarayi was taken, particularly in the isolated desert areas of the Anbar province. The killings led the federal government to outlaw the lucrative search for mushrooms in several areas.
Iraqi security forces and the PMF launched the “Will of Victory”operation, backed by international coalition airpower, targeting ISIS sleeper cells in the areas between Mosul, Anbar, and Saladin on July 7.
Iraqi forces and PMF finished the operation’s fourth phase on Tuesday, which was focused on the deserts of Anbar.
Their car broke down in Al-Nukhib, 300 km southwest of Baghdad. The men disappeared on the road after their cars broke down.
In early February 2017, Samarayi and the two other Iraqi soldiers were murdered by ISIS militants.
Al-Samariyi was beheaded by ISIS, and the video of the beheading was published by ISIS on its propaganda channels back at the time.
Two years since the beheading Samarayi, his body was discovered by the 45th brigade of the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, also known as Hashd al-Shaabi) in the town of al-Qaim west of Baghdad on Friday. The PMF are an anti-ISIS fighting force, and part of Iraq’s security forces. Some of its units receive support from Iran.
The PMF unit identified Samarayi’s body after the military intelligence branch known as Falcon Cell detained his murderers in the deserts of Anbar, according to a statement released by PMF on Friday.
“The Hashd al-Shaabi’s 45th brigade discovered the body of the deceased martyr Abu Bakir al-Samarayi,” said the group.
Samarayi was a first lieutenant in the border guards unit of the Iraqi army. He was born in 1986, and lived in Baghdad with his family, according to Iraqi media reports.
He was kidnapped with two others by the Islamic State (ISIS) militants in late January 2017 in the southern parts of the western Anbar province, on the Anbar-Karbala road.
In an interview in February 2017, Samarayi’s brother told al-Fallujah TV that the family was in close contact with the ISIS militants who kidnapped him.
“We were ready to pay whatever they want to set my brother free,” Samarayi’s brother said.
One ISIS fighter they were in contact with was angry that Samarayi, whose first name is common for Sunni Muslims, was working with the Iraqi government, which is mostly led by Shiite Muslims.
“The ISIS terrorist told us ‘how come a person named Abu Bakir is working for the Iraqi government,’” said the brother.
Samariyi’s brother revealed that the two others who were kidnapped alongside his brother were also killed by ISIS.
“The ISIS militant who was exchanging texts with us vowed to find our house in Karbala city and kill all the family,” he said.
The family asked many times to talk to Samarayi, but the ISIS militants were refused every time, according to his brother.
Many Iraqis felt miserable and reacted with sadness on social media platforms after receiving the news of Samarayi’s death at the hands of ISIS.
Many shared photos of the moment of Samarayi’s beheading, since he held his head high in that moment, in a symbol of defiance.
Hashid Al Shaabi brigade 45th arrested a group of #ISIS terrorists in #Anbar who confessed killing/beheading 1st lieutenant of #Iraqi army Abu Bakir al Samarayi two years ago, and his body was found. #RIP pic.twitter.com/WntP8IUGSj
— Raveen Aujmaya (@raveenaujmaya) August 30, 2019
Ahmed al-Asadi, a member of the Iraqi parliament and senior PMF leader, said that Samarayi’s murderers were detained by PMF in Anbar last week.
“It is with great honor and joy that the 45th brigade of PMF in Anbar detained the murderers of the ‘hero’ Abu Bakir al-Samarayi,” Asadi told Rudaw English on Saturday. “PMF units, as part of the Iraqi security apparatus, are responsible for maintaining security side by side with the Iraqi army in all parts of Iraq and hunting down ISIS terrorists everywhere in the country.”
Asadi also revealed that detaining the murderers of al-Samarayi was not during the fourth phase of the anti-ISIS “Will of Victory” operation, but during an operation the 45th brigade of PMF conducted last week in western Anbar.
Apart from Western journalists and aid workers, the religious radicals have beheaded hundreds of local people, including soldiers.
In 2015, a Peshmerga soldier named Hujam Surchi was beheaded in Mosul in front of a large crowd. The gruesome murder of Surchi sparked public outrage in the Kurdistan region with many demanding the killer be found and brought to justice.
ISIS sized vast areas of northern Iraq in the summer of 2014. At the height of its power between 2014 and 2016, ISIS controlled an area roughly the size of Great Britain, spread across both Iraq and Syria.
Although the jihadist group was declared defeated in Iraq in December 2017, its remnants have retreated into Iraq’s deserts and mountains, where they have resumed earlier hit-and-run tactics of kidnappings, ambushes, bombings, and executions, working as sleeper cells.
Since January, there has been a spate of ISIS kidnappings and murders in similarly secluded spots to where Samarayi was taken, particularly in the isolated desert areas of the Anbar province. The killings led the federal government to outlaw the lucrative search for mushrooms in several areas.
Iraqi security forces and the PMF launched the “Will of Victory”operation, backed by international coalition airpower, targeting ISIS sleeper cells in the areas between Mosul, Anbar, and Saladin on July 7.
Iraqi forces and PMF finished the operation’s fourth phase on Tuesday, which was focused on the deserts of Anbar.
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