It has been two years since Mosul occupation by ISIS . After 5 days of curfew and fighting , 30000 fighters of the iraqi military forces ran away leaving their guns and tanks to be seized by ISIS fighters after which the misery began in june 10 , 2016.
It was 2 A.M , we were frightened and didn’t know what to do , and where to go . ISIS fighters broke into a police station nearby us and burned it , so we made the decision of fleeing as fast as we can as the situation was getting worse and it was unsafe to stay home . We rode the car and pulled a way seeking a safe road to go through . The city was frightful , fire was every where , the streets were full of burned military humvees that the defeated army left behined .
People were helpless and confused , all of them were seeking for safe place to run toward. We hardly struggled the highway that reach Kurdistan to the north of Mosul . After driving whole the night we hardly reached the checkpoint before Dohuk in the morning . The lines of cars waiting there were endless as there were security prudences and the checkpoint was closed and no one was allowed to pass . Waiting hours near that checkpoint was hard , we weren’t able to think and were shocked by the previous night events ,we were tired and miserable and we could do nothing but to wait for the mercy of the officer in the checkpoint .
Finally they allowed families to get in but in condition that you left your car and walk . We left the car and walked toward Dohuk , fortunately we found someone who picked up and help us reaching Dohuk. The city is small and it is unable to lodge all that people who fled Mosul , the hotels were almost full and we kept looking for a place to sleep in until we found a small motel , they accepted to give us a small room in return for paying them a high price per night. Several days passed and we did nothing but to watch the news trying to know what is happening in Mosul ,what are ISIS is planing for and what is next ? .. Mean while we received a phone call from our supervisor in Al Baaj health center that we were working in and told us that ISIS presided over the health center and one of their fighters called him and told him that they collect our informations including our adresses and phone numbers and send us a threat either to return to work to treat and attend their injured fighters or they will consider us as resistants and will kill or take the possession on our property in Mosul. We were shocked and frightened being wanted by them and the situation is getting more worse as the local government started to harass the people who entered Dohuk after june , 10 by the issues of sponsors and security checking and prohibited people from leaving their residences , it looked like a house arrest !.
As we have to pay for the motel , we realized that we will be out of pocket soon ! It is no longer possible to stay there , we needed a place that protect us , a place to feel more safe !
At last , we had no choice but to leave Iraq , we applied for visa to Jordan in a travel agency in Dohuk , we were lucky to get approval as Jordan was inflexible regarding visa issues for Iraqi citizens.
To be contiued….
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