In the lap of the seven minefields

by Abdullah Sabir

 

The Village of Sartak; an Introduction Sartak, that small very nice village of Maidan/Khanaqin, is still like Hayas's kid1. Beds of red tulips, different other wild flowers and narcissus grow, defying barbed wires that pretend to be embracing or protecting them. In Sartak, even the narcissus flowers, unlike the Greek ones2, are not selfish. They are there to attract butterflies and other delicate beings including the nice people of the area, and provide them with better environment for love and friendship. On seeing them, one feels that the blood of Shoosha, Mam Samin, Muhammed-Ali Karim, Huseina Sur, Isma'il, his son, and many others has watered them.

You can easily tell who loves it more. Is it the mountains of Bamo & Khoshik that always keep an eye on it and never ever leave it? Or is it its own people, some of whom sacrificed defending it or got killed or disabled by the wolf mines around it? (By the way, they love their village so much that some of them name their children Sartak!) Or is it many others from the surrounding towns and villages, who come for some hours every spring for a picnic and leave it with its own sufferings? Or is it the sleeping wolf mines, in the seven MFs all around it, which bang and yell at the first disturbance? Can the wolf mines love be like that of butchers to their victims? They do not let Sartak grow! (See photo_1, _2)

Photo_1: no comment		Photo_2: sign in the horizon watching

 

Geography

Sartak is surrounded, by the village Kany Zhala from the north, by the village Horen from the south where most of Sartak people live in winter, by Bamo Mt from the east and by Khoshik Mt from the west. Both of those mountains almost embrace it. It is around 13km from Maidan/Khanaqin sub-district and district. The town of Khanaqin being under the control of the GOI (Gov. of Iraq), now, the mayor of Khanaqin has his office in Maidan sub-district. And Sartak is 39km from Darbandikhan district where Kirkuk Governorate 's office is, because Kirkuk itself is under the control of the GOI, too. Sartak is about 17 km from the border with Iran.

The area of Sartak, with all its agricultural land, orchards and mountains, is about 9 km2. This includes the areas in the neighbouring village of Horen. From that area, the houses of Sartak, with the orchards, the picnic area and the minefields, have about 2 km2. And the mined areas alone occupy almost a quarter of this which is about 262 500 m2 (0.2625 km2).

The high way to the villages north of Sartak is an important strategic one. It may be considered an international high way. It connects Iraqi Kurdistan to Iran. Like many other high ways of Kurdistan that lead to Iran, or to Turkey, it would be of great importance to the people of Sartak, to the people in the region and to both Iran and Iraq if it was fixed and paved. Great effort is needed to clear hundreds of MFs in the villages on both sides of that high way to help the people return back. This will help other organizations implement their projects of reconstruction, resettlement...etc. (See photo_3)

Aim

No writing skills, no sensitive cameras, whatever type, are able to fathom human sufferings from the loss of a limb or a beloved. One may hope losing limbs than losing a daughter or a son or a friend. This study, with the support of photos, aims at drawing a realistic image of one of the villages of North Iraq, of its sufferings, losses and attempts to stand up, to get rid of mines, to deal with them or live with them. Some morals, as well as some didactic educational lessons, can be extracted from this study. With fear, nothing good can be achieved well. With all the dark clouds, that mine threat leaves in the sky of Sartak, one can find, between the lines, some time and space for dealing with children, flowers, happy life…etc. Sartak is looking forward to any hand extended to it. This study can be considered a call for other organizations to look forward to doing something for the people. It has been written and prepared by a human being whose faculties are limited. Fortunately, it will be read and studied by human beings whose imaginations will go beyond its boundaries. This will help, somehow complete the image.

Photo_3: houses, orchards of Sartak. Closest building is the school with the yard in front. De-miners two tents can be seen at the far right end with the health centre foundation in front.

 

Population and Some History

The population of Sartak was around 100 families, before displacing them by the GOI when they were taken, in military Zeal trucks to the western bank of the river Sirwan in 1975. They ended up in the towns of Darbandikhan, Kalar, and some collective towns like Bazian. Its case was like that of hundreds of villages along the border with Iran or like villages, deep inside the country, that the GOI could not completely control. In 1977, it was destroyed, and became a military banned area, like more than four thousand villages, of the Kurdish countryside, which were destroyed but this time in 1988.

Intruders in the Land

The surroundings, except where the army dwelled and camped, were mined with different types of AP mines: Prom 1, V69, PMD 6, and VS 50 … etc. This applied even to where the ruined houses are. Besides all that, the eight year war with Iran took part in tensing the problems by displaying the area to heavy shelling and bombing, which was enough to leave a lot of UXOs and fragments in the ground. When Iraq was defeated in the second gulf war in Kuwait in 1991, the people of Iraq went on the up-rise of March 1991 against the GOI and Kurdistan was liberated and fell in the safe haven provided by the coalition states. The Iraqi army left a legacy of seven MFs for the villagers of Sartak, to deal with and live with for the rest of their lives, after they returned back, till some organization like MAG marked them and provided mine awareness in 1999. UNOPS-MAP decided to clear the MFs. And UNOPS-MAP, EOD teams started disposing some UXO. Then, de-mining started in Jan. 22. 2002. Before that, in 1991-1992, four peshmargas- Kurdish fighters- had done some mine removal along the only road from the main road to the village, to help the villagers return back. They were: Raza Aziz Abdullah, Nariman Aziz Mahmud, Majid -lost one eye and one finger- and Barzan who lost the fingers of both hands. They just collected the visible mines and dismantling them, threw the explosives into the stream. When UNOPS-MAP had not arrived in the region, yet, they gave NPA around 30 mines to use for training. Below is a list of Sartak MFs:

	District	Sub-district	Village	MF code	MF name
1	Khanaqin	Maidan	Sartak	UNOPS-S-0085	Dara Sher
2	Khanaqin	Maidan	Sartak	UNOPS-S-0086	Bakhy Khely Yaqub
3	Khanaqin	Maidan	Sartak	UNOPS-S-0087	Nawa Naw
4	Khanaqin	Maidan	Sartak	UNOPS-S-0088	Bana Span
5	Khanaqin	Maidan	Sartak	UNOPS-S-0090	Kani Shekh
6	Khanaqin	Maidan	Sartak	UNOPS-S-0234	Klawy Bua
7	Khanaqin	Maidan	Sartak	UNOPS-S-0235	Gala Re'

Resettlement, Reconstruction and Economy

Some of the people of Sartak decided to return back to their village supported very slightly by Shelter Now NGO, which provided each family with 12 spars and 16 CGI sheets. In 1995, another organization -name, not remembered- provided 10 families of them with spars, mats and 500 kg of cement each. Only 20 families out of the 100 returned back while the poor families have not returned back till now. The people of Sartak are usually farmers, living mainly on livestock breeding, orchards of fruit trees and crops growing. Sartak may become one of the best and nicest areas. But with all those MFs, none of these is easy and productive. Reconstruction, resettlement, livestock breeding, and fruit trees, crops growing and wood tree usage, are all limited and restricted because of the mined areas. In Sartak, they have trees of figs, grapes, apricots, plumbs, pomegranate, pears, peaches, apples, nuts…etc. There are great chances for bee breeding in Sartak. FAO can play its role here. Three families open their shops, but only in spring when people go there for picnics. The only things they sell are pops, cigarettes, chocolates, and biscuits. While in summer, around ten families open cottage shops selling their fruit products and some children of the age of five to ten, stand by the main road and hold their half a kilo bags of fruit for the traffic drivers and passengers to buy. Among the people of Sartak, there are three teachers, one of them living in other places, four doctors, two of them in the UK, one engineer, one para medic, and some working in the Gov. departments in the nearby towns. There are hunters who hunt as a hobby. They hunt only the male partridges by shotguns when the females have laid their eggs to hatch. Before spring, they use tamed females that sing in ambushed cages surrounded by traps for hunting the males. (See photo, _4)

 

Photo 4: female partridge in the cage & the male free		Photo 5: picnic buses close to the road

 

Some of the farmers who do not have agricultural land or livestock and who have not been able to make their living in the village or to re-build their houses, have settled in the nearest town of Darbandikhan living as labourers for daily wages.
Tourism can be one of the income-generating projects if used well and productively. Mine threat, though one of the impediments, cannot prevent people from Suleimaniyah, Darbadndikhan, Kifri, Kalar…from coming to this nice and cool place, in hundreds of buses and cars, every week-end to spend some hours happily. But all of them stick to the sides of the main road and cannot go farther than 50 meters as a maximum. (See photo, _5)

The women, in Sartak, are not better than the men are. Their activities in the farms and in collecting wild vegetables and herbs are limited as well. In the end, they are both partners and they share the sweet and the bitter.

Mostly, some of the people have to use the narrow paths through the minefields during their movements to and from their few pastures, orchards, farms…etc. Kak Salih, one of the farmers in Sartak, justifying that, says, "We cannot help it. Everywhere is mined." (See photo_6 and _7)

 

Photo_6 and _7: walking inside MF. See signs. One of the two, in photo _6, is bent.

 

Some of the people of Sartak try to cut wood for their self uses only. "If we want to live on wood cutting, we have to fly to reach the oak trees or we will fly as a result of cutting wood." Hamid Abdullah, one of them, said. Once, some of them did that and got the lesson.

Lesson Learnt

In the early days of March 1991, nobody knew that the area had been mined. It appeared that it was mined after they had been displaced after 1977 and they found out after the accidents or after seeing the mines in their farms, orchards and along the only road that led to their village. They were demarcated later by MAG. Hama-Ali Karim, now a double amputee with the left-hand fingers cut, as well, is living as half a man. Though, he is working, he is somehow surrounded by the mercies of the others and followed by their eyes of sympathy. He was once a strong man. He returned back to Sartak to rebuild his house and raise his family. He was one of the casualties. He had been up to the mountain of Khoshik to cut wood. It was the 18th of Aug. 1993. He had cut a pile of wood for the winter to warm up his home and his family. He thought of another pile. He had been going up and coming down collecting and piling the wood. Thus, he had pressed the path well enough when he was suddenly thrown up in the air. The interval, between the bang and everything around him drowning in total silence, was so short that he almost did not hear the bang. For three months, as a result, he had not been hearing. "My left foot was gone and my right one damaged." Hama-Ali said. "It was a Valmara and my stepping on it with my left foot unfortunately protected the rest of my body." (See photo _8 and _9)

"Why unfortunately!" I asked him.

"At that moment, I wished I were dead. And now, isn't death better than thelife Iam leading?"

"No, because you still have the faculty of thinking, have the ability to look after your family and to caress your children, talk to them, embrace them and instruct them. What would have happened to them if you had died? Do not think of yourself only."

After a while of silence, he added, "You are right. You give me hope. Thank you. But sometimes I feel frustrated. I have six daughters and two sons. My elder son is seven years old. He is not afraid of me. My wife and daughters are adults and they understand me." "You yourself explained why. Because they are adults and they understand you. As with your children, change your wrong method. Make them feel that you love them in stead of frightening him."

 

Photo_8 & _9: Muhammed-Ali Karim in his wheel chair & shop

 

Before that, he was living on breeding sheep and goats for a rich man in another area. He would have shared the owner half of the breeding and the income. After the accident, he lived for three years in the neighbouring village of Horen, on charity from his relatives. Now, he is an agent of WFP dry food ration distribution of the 986 SCR programme. Once a month, he opens his shop, with the help of his fourteen-year old nephew Sa'adullah who has left school. Before Sa'adullah, he used to pay around ID 10-20 to some others who would help him. He has rented a shop for ID 100/month, in Darbandikhan to distribute the dry food rations. He gets around Swiss ID 1200/month. UNOPS-MAP, Mine Victim Assistance dept./EMERGENCY, has conducted a house modification for his current situation. Now, he can use the toilet himself without help from others. He would like to go back to Sartak one day and resume the rest of his life in the nice countryside there, instead of living in the dirty semi-city of Darbandikhan.

UNOPS-MAP

That will only happen after UNOPS-MAP clears the MFs for them and other UN agencies like, HABITAT, UNDP, implement the rest of their reconstruction and resettlement projects. UNOPS-MAP has already started clearance in Bana Span minefield, UNOPS-S-0088 and HABITAT has started digging the foundation for building a health centre near the current clearance site in Sartak. A mosque has already been built by IIRO. (See photo _10 and _11)

 

Photo_10: health-centre foundation with de-miners tent & rest area behind		Photo_11: de-miner stops when goats pass by - to the right & left of the 1st goats there are signs

 

Of course, the people of Sartak are very pleased with the mine action conducted by UNOPS-MAP in their village. "They are very co-operative." Yousif, the team leader of GC 21 says. " They do not interfere in the work. They are always there to support our work. We are very much at ease, working here." Unlike some other villages, they rotate the task site guarding among all the villagers. Every two weeks, three villagers do the guarding. "We know that the de-miners are doing what we have been dreaming of since 1991." The people of Sartak say. "We have tasted the bitter. Do not expect us to demand the de-miners to hurry up more than they are expected to. We do not want them to sacrifice for saving us."

UNOPS-MAP has chosen this village to conduct mine action for its high priority and for the large number of casualties. (See attached table.) An integrated approach or a pilot visit was paid by UNOPS-MAP sector south, on the 24th Oct. 2001. The sector planning section, MA, VA and UNOPS-Map contractors: (the international manual clearance Co. S3, including the EOD teams, MECHEM Co. for MDDG, mechanical ground preparation Cos.: K.Z. Co. and Ararat Co.) in the presence of the local authorities, paid that pilot visit and met representatives of the village. MA met the villagers. VA met the victims. (See photo_12 & _13)

 

Photo: _12 & _13: pilot visit paid by UNOPS-MAP & contractors to Sartak. MCO representative present

 

Among the activities in the field of MA is a play that will be acted and filmed in Sartak soon by KOMA-Kurdistan Organization of Mine Awareness-a local NGO contracted to UNOPS-MAP.

Another Lesson Learnt

Sartak Muhammed Salih, named after the village, now a student of the 1st year, Horen intermediate school, was then a student in the primary school of Sartak, when he was out roaming and walking along the path that led from the houses to the school. It was the holiday of the 1st of Jan. 2000. There was no school that day. Did he long for the school? Of course, he did. What playing grounds are there in Sartak to go during the holidays and leisure time? There is none. Maybe, he was looking for a present, Santa Claus had brought for the children the night before, when he suddenly saw half-a-pen-like metal with a pin at one end. Was it the present? Picking it, some joy filled his heart. Then a cold shiver licked all his body. He put it down. As if he were angry with Santa Claus, he took hold of a stone and bang! Shocked, feeling his left eye with his left hand and on seeing some blood, he started screaming, covering his left eye and ran towards home. (See photo_14)

 

Photo_14: Sartak M. -Salih injured in his L.-eye

 

The Bleeding Red Tulip, One More Lesson Ahmed Muhammed Abdurrahman, now lives with his family of a wife, 6 daughters and sons, in Horen village where the intermediate school, of which his son Adnan is the head and a teacher of both Kurdish and English languages. They return back to Sartak in summer, being cooler and nicer, though the wound their daughter, Dlniya, whom they nicknamed Shoosha, left in their hearts and minds, is not healing. Every spring, when they return back and stay in their house in Sartak, that wound blossoms in their heart like a red bleeding tulip, as thousands of April red tulips of Sartak. She is always there in their conscience, active and ready to help and do whatever her parents or her elder brothers and sisters ask her. Her brother Hemin, who is now a guard at UNOPS-MAP Maidan camp, was then herding the lambs and kids. Around 10:30hrs, he was back home to have a rest. He asked his little sister Dlniya to go and muster them. His mother asked, "Why don't you do it yourself?" "I'm tired," was his answer. Dlniya ran bare footed. She thought she was keeping an eye on them and bringing them back close to the house! She did not take heed of the fact that she herself needed to be kept an eye on and protected. She was at ease as her name denotes. Dlniya is a Kurdish word meaning certain or at ease. It was an hour before lunch on the 18th Oct. 1993. She was, then, only eleven years old. While herding the lambs and kids back home, it appeared that she had been aware only of thorns and some small sharp rocks. That is why she stepped on the bigger rocks, not much bigger than her small feet and suddenly a mine: a V69 blew up under a rock and cut the lower part of her amiable body into pieces.

"Her head and upper part of her body was OK. She was alive and crawled with the help of her hands and buttocks for a few meters and then there was her end." Her mother, with tears in her eyes, said. "She was not crying! It seemed she lost any sense of what had happened, of pain and of hearing the screams of her mother and sisters!" 22 of her lambs and kids were sieved through and killed. What was there in her mind before passing away? She was always happy and joyful. But that morning, she woke up full of happiness and pleasure. She was expecting her brother, Adnan, now the head of the intermediate school of Horen village, who was then a student at the University of Saladdin in Arbil, to be back the next day. He used to bring her a present, some sweets, a toy, or a coloured dress, every time he came back on the holidays. For sure, she was thinking of one of his gifts.

Below is a list of Sartak victim status:

Number of accidents

Cause	#	Injured	Killed	Livestock killed	Remarks
MINE	19	4	9	39	Occurred in Sartak
MINE/UXO	5	4	1	0	Sartak villagers in other areas
UXO	2	2	0	0	Occurred in Sartak
Total	26	10	10	39

 

Number & names of the injured in Sartak:

#	Cause	Date	Name	Disability	Remarks
1	UXO	1998	Bryar Ahmed Salih	R. -Hand deformity
2	UXO	2000	Sartak Muhammed-Salih	SI.L. -Eye
3	Mine	1991	Faraj Abdulqadir Muhammed	R.BKA
4	Mine	1999	Huseina Sur	R.BKA	Not fr. Sartak
5	Mine	1993	Muhammed-Ali Karim	Bilateral AKA & L.-hand
6	Mine	1993	Wafiq Mahmud Muhammed	L.BKA

 

Number & names of the killed in Sartak:

#	Cause	Date	Name	Remarks
1	Mine	1993	Dlniya (Shusha) Ahmed M. Abdul-Rahman	From Sartak
2	Mine	1997	Khalid Ali Hama Salih	Not fr. Sartak
3	Mine	1998	Sabir Salih Azam	Not fr. Sartak
4	Mine	1991	Jamal Abdullah Aziz	Not fr. Sartak
5	Mine	1992	Akber Muhammed Darwish	Not fr. Sartak
6	Mine	1993	Mam Samin	Not fr. Sartak
7	Mine	1996	Muhammed Rahim	Not fr. Sartak
8	Mine	NK	Isma'il Salih	Not fr. Sartak
9		NK	Isma'il Salih's son	Both in one accident

 

Number & names of people from Sartak who had accidents in other areas:

#	Cause	Date	Name	Remarks
1	Mine	1991	Nasradin Hawrami	Killed
2	Mine	1998	Osman Qadir	L.-leg BKA
3	Chemical Bomb	1988	Nariman Aziz Ahmed	L.-eye lost
4	Mine	1989	Ahmed Mahmud Muhammed	R. -Hand deformity
5	Mine	DNK	Azam Nazdar Ali	R.TKA

 

Number of livestock killed in Sartak:

Livestock	Number	Date
Kids	22	18.10.1993
Goats	5	22.04.1994
Sheep	5	10.05.1995
Goats	2	06.06.1999
Goats	1	07.05.2001
Goats	2	08.03.2002
Goats	2	09.03.2002

 

Facilities in Sartak:

The Primary School

Before destruction, the villagers built a shade from spars, reed mats, and leaves, to be used as a school. Now, the only school in Sartak is the six-class primary one. It was established in 1993. The building consists of four classrooms, one for teachers and a store. Four teachers: three females and the headmaster teach at the school. In Sartak, there is no house for the teachers to live; therefore, they all, except one of the female teachers who is from Sartak, live in the school: the headmaster with his wife and the other two female teachers. Only 26 children attend the school here: 5 children in the 1st, 6 in the 2nd, 3 in the 4th, 3 in the 5th and 8 in the 6th. To have enough room and so that the teachers can cover all of them, they have merged the two classes: 1st & 2nd in one room.

Photo_15: primary school children playing with sign not more than 20m away from the school corner

 

The innocence of childhood and the frequency of daily and routine living with fear, have made the students of the only six-class primary school of Sartak, get accustomed to the marking signs at the edge of their school yard, not more than 20 meters. (See photo_15) Those signs, though the students consider them their friends who keep warning them, look like old scarecrows in a rice farm that the sparrows and other birds are no longer afraid of. You may also consider them the only spectators to the students while playing during the breaks. Fear may have effect on people for a while. Then, they may get accustomed to it. For most of the students, fear has become awareness. This has been achieved through the efforts of KOMA and other mine awareness organizations. While for very few of the students, fear has become merely a childish boastfulness when they claim that they are not afraid! This fear has gradually faded though; four children are among the casualties, till now & so far. Among them, a schoolmate of theirs had an accident, while playing with a detonator.
Intermediate school students from Sartak walking to Horen village every day and during all the year round, are 15. Six of them are girls. The number, of those who walk to the intermediate school during spring and summer, and their families stay in Horen in winter, is 27. Eleven of them are girls. That is 42. (See photo_16)

 

Photo_16: intermediate school students of Sartak, climbing the road up home after a school day

 

Time has come for the people of Sartak to have adequate house to live in, and an intermediate school for their children to study in. This will happen after UNOPS-MAP clears the mined areas for them.

Power and Drinking Water

The people of Sartak and Horen village raised fund and collected around, Swiss ID 285 000 to help provide their village with power. They bought most of the items including the isolators. And the department of power provided poles and wires. The most active among them was Mahmud Aziz Mahmud.

DRD (the Directory of Reconstruction and Development) has implemented the water project. Clean drinking water is distributed among the houses.

Conclusion:

No conclusion is drawn because there is still a lot to say, a lot to write, and a lot to show.

 

Photo 17: Dlniya (Shoosha), The Bleeding Red Tulip

 

Hayas's kid:

In Kurdish myth, Hayas Khas was one of the cleverest consultants of one of the Kurdish rulers in the old ages. His ruler was once angry with him. Hayas hid from him in one of the villages. Needing him a lot, the ruler tried many ways to find him but neither succeeded. Finally, he thought of a puzzling question as bait to find him. He sent marked kids to the surrounding villages to be bred by the villagers and to be brought back to him after a month without the kids increasing or decreasing in weight. Of course, he decided a prize for anyone who succeeded and imposed a punishment on those who failed. The owner of the house, where Hayas hid, got one. To keep him at ease and cool, Hayas told him not to worry and advised him to feed the kid as normal but tie it in front of a wolf. After the month was over, the kid remained as he had received from the ruler. Hayas saved the landowner but his cleverness led the ruler's men to his hiding place.

Narcissus:

In the Greek myth, Echo fell in the love of Narcissus who was too selfish and too much in love with himself to take heed of her, and neglected her. Being fond only of himself and his beauty, he spent months looking at himself in the stable and quiet water of the spring, till time had passed and he realized the need to a friend. He started calling Echo in the mountains of Olympia. But it was too late and he only heard the echo of his call

 

Abbreviations:

GOI: Gov. of Iraq
IIRO: International Islamic Relief Org.
NPA: Norwegian People's Aid
MA: Mine Awareness
MAG: Mines Advisory Group- (UK)
MCO: Mine Co-ordination Office
MDDG: Mine Detection Dog Groups
MF: Minefields
VA: Victim Assistance
AKA: Above Knee Amputation
BKA: Below Knee Amputation
SI: Shell Injury
TKA: Through Knee Amputation