The Start of the War

It was Monday morning, the thirty-first of Shahrivar, 1359 AHS. I saw Ibrahim and his brother. They were busy moving. I greeted them and said, “This afternoon Qasem is going to Kurdistan with a car of supplies. We are going with him too.” He asked with surprise, “Is there any news?!” I said, “There might be fighting again.” He said, “Ok. If I am able, I will come.” Noontime that same day,with the attack of the Iraqi airplanes, the war started. In the streets, everyone was looking at the sky. We were at the beginning of the street at 4 p.m. Qasem Tashakkori came with a jeep full of supplies. Ali Khorramdel was there too. I got in the car. Ibrahim arrived when it was time for us to go. He got in too. I said, “Brother Ibram! Weren’t you busy moving?!” He said, “We put the furnishings in the new house and I came.” It was the second day of the war. We got to Sarpol Dhahab before noontime passing over several dirt roads with great difficulty. No one could believe what we were seeing. People were escaping from the city in groups. The sound of blasts from cannons and mortar bullets were coming from the city. We didn’t know what to do. In entering the city we had to go through a mountain pass. We saw the soldiers from the army waving at us from far! I said, “Qasem! They are signaling for us to come faster!” Suddenly Ibrahim said, “Look over there!” Then he pointed to in front of us. From behind the hills the Iraqi tanks could be seen completely. They were shooting constantly. A few bullets from the tank hit around the car; but, thank God nothing bad happened. We came out of the pass. One of the army soldiers came forward and asked, “Who are you?! I was repeatedly signaling for you not to come; but, you were pressing on the gas.” Qasem asked, “What is going on here? Who is the commander?!” The soldier answered, “Mr. Borujerdi is in the city with the soldiers. This morning the Iraqis captured most of the city; but, with the attack of our soldiers they moved back.” We moved on and went into the city. We parked the car in a safe place. Qasem prayed a two cycle prayer there! Ibrahim went forward and asked with surprise, “Qasem! What prayer were you praying?!” Qasem answered calmly, “In Kurdistan I have always asked God that when I fight with the enemies of Islam and the revolution that I won’t be captured or disabled. But, this time I have asked God that I become a martyr! I can’t tolerate the world anymore!” Ibrahim listened to him very carefully. Then together we went to Mohammad Borujerdi. He knew Qasem from before. He became very happy. After a short talk, he showed us a place and said, “Two soldier battalions went there and they don’t have a commander. Dear Qasem! Go and see if you can bring them into the city?” We went together. There were many armed and ready soldiers, but they were scared. They were not prepared for such an attack from Iraq. Qasem and Ibrahim went forward and started talking. They talked to them in such a way that they became filled with fervor. At the end of their talk they said, “Whoever is a real man, ardent, and doesn’t want these Ba’athists to reach to his wife and daughter, come with us.” Their words motivated almost all of the soldiers to come. Qasem arranged the forces, and we entered the city. We started building entrenchments. A few of the soldiers said, “We have some M40 Recoilless Rifles too.” Qasem found a suitable place and pointed it out. They transferred the Rifles there and started shooting. By shooting with these, the Iraqi tanks moved back. Our soldiers became greatly encouraged. It was sunset of the second day of the war. Qasem chose a house as headquarters which was close to the trenches of the soldiers. Then he told me, “Go tell Ibrahim to come and let’s read the Tawassol supplication.” It was Wednesday night. I started moving, and Qasem started praying the sunset prayer. I wasn’t very far away when a mortar shell exploded in front of that house. I told myself, “Thank God that Qasem went into the room.” However I went back. Ibrahim who had heard the sound of the explosion came towards us quickly. We entered the room. We couldn’t believe what we saw. Shrapnel the size of a lentil had passed through the window and entered his chest. Qasem had reached his aspiration while he was praying! Mohammad Borujerdi became very upset when he heard the news. That night we read the Tawassol supplication next to Qasem’s body, and the next day we sent his body to Tehran. The next day we went to the command headquarters. They told us, “Be responsible for the ammunition storehouse.” Then they turned a school over to us which was almost full of ammunitions. We stayed there for one day, and since it wasn’t secure there, they took the ammunitions out of town. Ibrahim said jokingly, “Everyone, remember God here very much; because, if a mortar shell hits here nothing will be left from us!” When the ammunition storehouse was emptied, we went to the front line of the conflict. The trenches had been formed to the east of Sarpol Dhahab. A few of the trained commanders like Asghar Vesali and Ali Qorbani were responsible for the fighting forces. They had a group of guerrilla fighters in the Paveh Region named ‘Dastmal Sorkhha’. Now they had come to Sarpol Dhahab with those same forces. We walked in the city and found a few of our friends like Mohammad Shahrudi, Majid Faridvand, and… We went together to the place of conflict with the Iraqi forces. In a trench at the top of the hill the commander of the forces told us, “The hill which is in front of us is our battlefield with the Iraqi forces. The Iraqis are in the next hills too.” A few minutes later an Iraqi soldier was seen from a distance. All the forces started shooting. Ibrahim shouted, “What are you doing?! You are finishing the bullets! Everyone became silent. Ibrahim who had been in Kurdistan for a while and learned the military training well said, “Wait until the enemy gets close to you and then shoot.” Meanwhile, the Iraqis started shooting from the bottom of the hill. RPG and mortar bullets were shot towards us constantly. Then they moved towards our trenches. In seeing this scene, the forces that were holding a gun for the first time ran towards the back trenches. We were very afraid. The commander shouted, “Wait! Don’t be Afraid!” A few moments later the sound of the shooting of the Iraqis lessened. I looked out of the trench. The Iraqis were very close to our trenches. Suddenly Ibrahim with a few other friends attacked the Iraqis! They were shouting “Allah Akbar” (God is great) as they were running out of the trenches! After several minutes a few Iraqis had been killed and injured. Eleven of the Iraqis were capture by Ibrahim and his friends. The rest of them ran away. Ibrahim quickly moved them towards the city. Because of Ibrahim’s action, the morale of all the soldiers improved. A few people were constantly taking photos of the captives, and some were taking photos with Ibrahim! An hour later we entered the city of Sarpol. It was there that it was reported that since the road was closed Qasem’s body was still in the garrison. We left, and on the fifth day of the war we arrived in Tehran with Qasem’s body and in his own car. A magnificent funeral was held in Tehran, and the first martyr of the 8-year Holy Defense from our neighborhood was buried. Many people came. Ali Khorramdel was shouting, “My martyr commander, your way will be continued!”

 

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