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Tal Afar Residents Return to Ghost City, Razed Homes
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Finding their homes flattened, some families are leaving Tal Afar and living in a refugee camp on the city’s peripheries.
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By
Saleh Amer, IOL Correspondent
MOSUL,
September 24 (IslamOnline.net) – Flocking back home after the end of
the US-Iraqi onslaught, residents of the northern town of Tal Afar
found their homes flattened to the ground and their hometown turned
into a ghost city.
"After
walking more than 10 kilometers, we failed to find our home because
the entire neighborhood was brought to rubble," Yassin
Al-Talafari told IslamOnline.net over the phone.
The
24-year-old recalled being forced to flee, along with his family,
after the American bombardment of the city intensified on September 9.
Eyewitnesses
said the excessive use of force by the US and Iraqi forces resulted in
massive destruction across the city, particularly in Sarray and Hassan
Kuwi districts.
"Having
found their homes razed to the ground, some of the returning families
are seeking shelter with relatives and others are considering to leave
the town," Othman Oklo, 42, told IOL.
US
air strikes and bombardment have sent residents into panicky flight
from the city, which is populated by a majority of Sunni Arabs and
also Shiite Turkomans.
Some
left for the nearby city of Mosul or ended up in a refugee camp on the
city’s peripheries where they face serious shortages of clean water,
food and medicine.
The
Iraqi army announced Thursday, September 22, the end of the
"successful" Tal Afar offensive, which involved 6,000 Iraqi
soldiers, backed by 4,000 US troops.
It
said 157 "rebels" had been killed and 683 suspects captured
during the three-week offensive.
Inhabitable
Al-Talafari
said the residents of the town, some 70 kilometers from the Syrian
borders, are carving for attention.
"We
are praying that the government would make good on its promises and
immediately begin rebuilding the city," he added.
The
returnees are complaining from clear water shortage and power outage
after the infrastructure was battered by the bombardment.
"The
humanitarian conditions in the town are not improving
government," said Bashar Omar, a civil servant.
"The
entire neighborhood lacks in drinking water and the main generator
supplying us with power has been bombed," he added.
Media
Blackout
The
US-Iraqi troops imposed a complete media blackout on the Tal Afar
operation, according to IOL correspondent.
No
reporters were allowed into the town during the military operations
except for the official Al-Iraqiya channel.
Military
units were given strict orders not to let reporters into the city
under the pretext of protecting their personal safety.
The
only photos available were those released by the US military press
service.
A
source at Ninawa Journalists Syndicate said the US and Iraqi forces
detained 17 journalists and seized their cameras when they attempted
to provide the offensive.
Mohammad
Rashid, the governor of Tal Afar, has resigned his post protesting the
"sectarian operation" against battered northern town.
"The
operation is targeting Sunni neighborhoods," he had said.
US
and Iraqi forces argue that Tal Afar is being used as a conduit for
equipment and foreign fighters allegedly smuggled in from Syria.
In
August of 2004, Tal Afar was the scene of a deadly US offensive that
killed hundreds of its residents and displaced thousands.
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