The Party in Sulaimani.......... memories from 1991...

It was 7th of March 1991, I woke up at 6.45 am and I realised my parents were talking with their friend in the kitchen... I went there to find out what is going on... Just like usual... I had to stick my nose into everything... I started asking question "what is going on..What is going on?"
My parents friend, (who was a headmaster) left at around 7.15 am when we heard shots in the morning..The Kurdish Radio kept broadcasting music and coded messages... At around 10.00 am, the real uprising started..
Soon, sounds of shots and guns and fire was all over the city.. People were in the streets, fighting and celebrating..
There was an old lady who was living opposite of us.. She came at around 10.30 banging on our door.."Come out, Come out, the fear is no more, We are free, let's fight the Baathiests and kill them all"..
We went out and my father emotionally told the crowd "look all, the Peshmargas are here to liberate us, we have to support them".. I later told dad "what is a Peshmarga anyway??""
He pointed to a young man wearing traditional Kurdish clothes, with an AK47, said "look that is a Peshmarga, we all are Peshmargas when it comes to fighting for freedom. "

The city has had suffered so much under the Iraqi government's rule, that it couldn't take it no more. Old mothers who have lost 2-3 sons were also fighting the Baathists.

At around 5.pm that day, most of Sulaimani city was liberated.. The only Iraqi stronghold was the main "Security Services Building" dubbed "Amna Suraka". (the red security building..)..


After losing hope of survival, the Iraqi security servicemen started using all their cards.. Soon they started bombing the city from their building randomly.. They were firing rockets everywhere.. but on 8th of March 1991, the last stronghold of "Amna Suraka", which was a place at the top of the building fell to the Peshmargas and the people... Celebration started...

Bodies of dead Iraqi Security servicemen were everywhere.. everywhere you go..