The situation in Mosul.

I don't know what to say, my heart is full of sorrow and fear

The past 3 weeks were the hardest ever, 11 years of war , I've written about hard days in blog but they are nothing compared to what happened this time.

War between armed men and al Maliki's army

I arrived Baghdad on 29/5 , i came in a visit to my grandparents.  On Friday morning 6/6 , my mom received an sms from dad,  he said "a bloody battle in our neighborhood since 3 am "

The fight started at 3 am on Tuesday , no one knew what was going on , shelling, heavy shooting , and explosions , my dad and grandparents stayed in the corridor for 3 days.

I was catching my mobile phone looking for news all the time, the people in Mosul ( who had Internet connection) were writing about this huge battle in face book they even posted photos taken from their own houses, i called my dad several time to tell him whats happening outside , they were trapped with no TV nor Internet , the electricity was off , and they had no water as well. 

On Saturday 7/6 , we lost the communication with dad and grandparents , their mobile batteries were low , so they had to close them to save the battery for emergency , as well as for security reasons there was perturbation on the neighborhood ..

we were catching our mobile phones waiting for a call or sms saying they are alive .

Finally a text message from dad , he said " the coverage is very bad , motors are falling on the neighborhood , thank god you guys are not here"

Later at midnight , my dad sent a text message "we can't even leave, they're fighting in our street and in front of our house we cant even go to the next room"

Next day, With the early morning we got a phone call from our relative, he said that all my relatives in nearby neighborhoods will leave Mosul together as soon as they can , then we got a phone call which was devastating , they said dad and grandpa couldn't leave, and my relatives left without them. 

what is going to happen to dad and grandparents ? my mom and i were so worried, we were just praying for a light of hope.

Later on Monday, dad called us, mom answered :

- oh my god , dear , how are you?

Dad couldn't catch a breath , he said 

- we are walking fast , we could do it , we left the neighborhood , i cant speak anymore , bye

This short phone call was the light of hope we were praying for.

We didn't know how did they leave, or where they are going , but we felt more relief.

My dad , grandma and grandpa walked a lot to reach the other part of Mosul,  the hardest thing was to leave the neighborhood as the shelling and shooting was heavy , but they had no other choice, And thanks to Allah they survived.

Grandma , after walking for large distance said she can't walk anymore , so they took a rest in a friends' house to catch a breath , meanwhile dad sent a message " we don't know were to go , we just want to reach the other part of Mosul , to any neighborhood " At 7:30 pm dad called to say they reached our friend's house (uncle S ) which is faraway from our neighborhood , this trip took them 9 hours but they took two rests .

thousands of people were " migrating " elderly people , pregnant women ( we know a woman who walked to reach a hospital outside Mosul to give birth of twins ! ) , people who just had a surgery (like a friend of mine , and dad's uncle) , kids , injured people , guys carrying disabled people , and many others , they were walking to the unknown .. 

That day at midnight , exactly at 1 am , soldiers started to shout hysterically and hitting the door dad went outside running with uncle S.

-what is going on?

-YOU MUST LEAVE NOW , SHELLING IS ABOUT TO START.

Three families were staying in one house (18 people ) , uncle s and his family, my family, and uncle k's family .

uncle S had 3 cars , so he let my dad drive one, and uncle k took the other one, they left in such a hurry and panic.

The soldiers took off their  military clothes , threw their weapons in the streets, wore civilian clothes and ran away, leaving the left part of city under the control of The armed men, they surrendered with out fight.

All the families in the right part of Mosul left their houses, as well as the majority of people in the left part . People were driving towards the northern part of Iraq, villages , or any safe place..

After 11 hours of driving in the night, dad reached a calm village at 12 pm , we know a friend who has a house there, he was so generous And invited many other families to stay as well.

They spent one night there, and went back to Mosul , to uncle s's house again.. 

The shelling was just a rumor to terrify people. 

On Wednesday , dad called , he told my mom that he must go back to our home, to take our money, important papers, gold, cloths , and medications.

many men went to their houses as well,  to take the important stuff , before another bloody battle starts !

Many families returned to the left part of Mosul, as they couldn't find any place to stay in villages, or couldn't enter Duhok and Arbile cities, We know many people who stayed in the streets at that night waiting to enter the northern cities, but not all of them were allowed . Especially after Duhok and Arbile became crowded with moslawi people.

8 days later, my dad and grandparents returned to our house..

Right now,  there is no shooting , and armed men took control of Mosul and near by villages, as well as other cities .. 

there is no electricity, no fuel, no gas, no salaries, lack of food supplies especially the one that need Freezers , the vegetables and fruits are bad and expensive , as there are no electricity the food in our refrigerators molded , people are struggling in this hot weather (42 Cel)

Everyone is worried and upset , no one knows what will happen next.

We just want a suitable life like any other human being in the world, is it too much to ask?  

We are thinking seriously to leave , but how? where? When? We don't know ..

Sunshine.

note : I'll try to post some photos as soon as i have a better internet connection .