In A Town Called Mahmoudiyia

In a town called Mahmoudiyia, south of Baghdad, people used to live together in peace for ages, no one ever there raised the question of Sunna or Shiite, locals are busy with farming, some of them joined Mahmoudiyia factory for bikes, but the town became busier with the establishment of Al-Q’aq’a Compound there during the eighties.

The compound itself is an image for the intimate relations among the people there, as you can find, Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds and Christians families work and live together.

After the US invasion, troubles engulfed the town, car bombs, IEDS, kidnapping and assassinations, still Sunni and Shiite kept living together because they believe that common Iraqis did not dare to do that to cause harm to their own people.

After the formation of Al-Ja’aferi government and the disastrous ministry of Interior who brought all the Shiite militias, equipped them with weapons and uniforms to kill with official approval, Mahmoudiyia became a hell for its people, particularly the Sunnis.

I was talking with one of the woman who lives in this compound for years and asked her about the situation, she said “ I have been there for long years, but have not face such terrible bloody days since the coming of Al-Mahdi army here.”

Al-Mahdi army is making ethnic cleansing in this compound, any Sunni family there has to leave, the family will be lucky if it receives a warning or its main apartment door blown up by an IED but the great disaster is if one of the family member falls in the hand of this militia, after few hours his body will be find in the trash.

The woman who is Shiite but her son in law is Sunni said “ My son in law left the compound after two of his Sunni colleagues killed just because they are Sunnis, my daughter still with me but neither she can go to him nor he can come to see here because we every day he is hiding somewhere.”

Three men who work at the compound went to the bring the salary for June, two of them were Sunni and the third was Shiite when they caught by Mahdi army, the Shiite man was released but the two Sunni bodies found later on somewhere in the town.

Fake checkpoints everywhere in the town, any man with Sunni name or tribe will be kidnapped and killed immediately after a course of torture, Sunni men are not allowed to work in the main market otherwise they will face the same destiny.

I have contacted the representative of the Islamic party in Mahmoudiyia, Sheikh Sa’eed As-samara’i to inquire about the family of the Iraqi girl who was raped and killed with her family by the US forces and the man promised to help me get in touch with her relatives.

The second day, Sheikh Sa’eed was in his way from Mahoudiyia to Baghdad when he stooped by this militia who opened his suitcase and when they found his turbine, they shot him immediately and began to dance with his turbine.

Omer is only 13 yr boy, his bad luck put him in the hand of this militia, when they found that his name was Omer, they took him to an isolated place and dug a hole, in which they buried him till his neck, then the members of the militia began to shoot on his head till they smashed it, just because he is Sunni and his name is Omer.

Now, this militia is kicking Sunni out of their mosques in Mahmoudiyia after killing their Imams and chasing any one prays in them, threats are flooding on Sunni families to leave their homes, farms and shops or they will be killed soon.

Mahmoudiyia must be exclusive to Mahdi army and followers of Al-Albait, as if the other Iraqi Moslems are followers of the devil and they do not deserve to live with Mahdi army.