QAYARA AIR BASE, Iraq (AP) – For Saif, an Iraqi army corporal, the battle for Mosul is intensely personal. Over the course of two years of Islamic State rule, the extremists destroyed his home, arrested his father, killed his brother and forced his fiancee into a marriage with an IS fighter.
Now he’s looking for revenge.
“I used to be a normal person. My dream was just to save enough money to build a house so I could get married,” the 30-year-old soldier said, nervously fiddling with his cigarette.
All together seven members of his family were killed by the extremists, he said, giving only his first name because he didn’t have permission from commanding officers to talk to the media. He only found out about their deaths when he saw a video the militant group released of their killings.
“I know the man who killed my father and the man who killed my brother,” Saif said, flipping through screen grabs from the video he keeps on his phone. “And I know the woman who informed on them. She was our neighbor.”