BARTELLA, Iraq (AP) – There were no big New Year’s celebrations for the Iraqi men, women and children who narrowly escaped the fighting in Mosul, only to wait for hours under armed guard while the fighting-age males among them were cleared of links to the Islamic State.
The lucky ones would go with their families to one of the wind-swept camps for displaced Iraqis, where they will endure the remainder of northern Iraq’s bitterly cold winter in tents and learn to survive on insufficient supplies of food, heating oil and blankets.
Those whose names were found on the wanted list would be detained, interrogated and likely face trial.
Many of the Iraqis told of going hungry in Mosul for weeks, surviving on a single daily meal and drinking murky water extracted from recently dug wells. There was no formula for their small children, who survived on bread soaked in tea or soup made of rice or crushed wheat. Life was miserable without electricity or medical care. They watched mortar shells or stray bullets kill their relatives and neighbors.
They don’t know when they will go home, but are thankful.