The 358th Night of Memory – 2

Compiled by: Leila Rostami
Translated by: M.B. Khoshnevisan

2024-11-5

The 358^th of the show of the Night of Memory entitled "Resistance and Standing" was held in Sooreh Hall of the Art Center of the Islamic Revolution on 7^th of Tir 1403 (June 27, 2024). In this show, Mr. Ali Saghaffi a war veteran and a freed POW of the Iraqi impose war against Iran recounted his memoirs. In continuation of the show two of the attendees also narrated memoirs form the sacred defense. Davood Salehi hosted the Night of Memory.

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In continuation of his talks, the first narrator of the Night of Memory said, "The area was completely flat. The enemy had built a trench with a height of 3 meters and an area of ​​30 meters. They had poured so much dirt on it that a watch post was built on top of the trench so that they could go to the top and see our forces. These watch guards had been deployed approximately 1.5 to 2 kilometers behind their own line so that they could not be seen easily. The distance between the enemy line and us was 8 kilometers; That is, if we wanted to have a line in front of them, the distance would be approximately 8 kilometers. I saw that trench and went on top of it. I saw that our area was known. Then I went into the trench. I saw 30 people sleeping. If we wanted to behead them, we could. I looked and took a tool from inside their trench. That night I went inside two of those watch posts".

It was getting brighter. We were constantly worried about where to hide during the day. There was a toilet on the way. Its area was about 1.5 meters. We went inside. From inside the bathroom, we saw some 15 Iraqis wiring telecommunications. They did not move a single step from morning to noon. They had been standing constantly and talking with a coil of wire in their hands. Of course, if we stayed longer in the bathroom, they would have seen us. We said we will go inside that trench. We sleep on the ground and do not move. I entrusted the children to cover the weapons with dirt and put them under the dirt so that they don't get electric. Open your watches as well. There was a road on top of that trench. Whenever a car passed by, we threw ourselves by the trench so that the cars wouldn't see us.

In the morning, we saw that 30 people had arrived on our right side. The telecom guys were 100 meters away from us, but those 30 troops were 150 meters away from us. They were laying mines next to Hoor al-Howeizeh. We waited until noon. We agreed that if the children did not follow us, we would hit the water at night and arrest the Iraqi fishermen and return with their boat. At noon, a car came towards us and suddenly the car stopped 10 meters away from us. They were the commander and one of the forces that laid mines. I armed my gun and started shooting at them.

After 45 minutes, an Iraqi military vehicle arrived and deployed nearly 30 troops. Two of them were divers. The distance from the pier to the land was 1.5 kilometers. They would come and lay down 10 meters away from us and shoot towards the pier. Then, they would get up and walk again. It took half an hour for them to reach us. We wanted to delay them till it got dark and enter the water; But one of our comrades shot at them and they found out where we were. It got a little dark. We were in the dark for about a quarter of an hour and entered the water. When we reached the reeds, people swarmed from everywhere. They had sent troops into the water from another way. They asked us take off our clothes. Then again, we saw them pointing to take off our underwear. We had no strength to walk.

They put us on a boat and took us to the city of Nashveh, 15 kilometers from Basra. We knew that the communication systems of their command were in the barracks. They interrogated us at 2 am. They asked: "Which divisions did you see in Ahvaz?" We had already coordinated and put the leave sheet of Al-Ghadir Brigade in our pockets. That is, I took three papers and signed three of them. I signed the papers of those two people myself; my paper was signed by the brigade commander. There was an MKO (Monafegh or hypocrite) member with them who took out the leaves from our pocket to explain to them. "What's the matter?" they asked. We said: "We are from the Information Operation Department of Al-Ghadir brigade operations. I am the information commander. These two people are my deputies. Previously, the 11th Brigade of Naml was here, we moved a month ago. They go somewhere else; we go here and settle down. They said that these obstacles are in front of you and this army, this brigade is stationed here. We came to see if they were right or not!" They said: "Where did you come from?" I said: "From Abadan." They said: "From where did you want to return?" We said: "From land." That is, we reassured them that it was nothing but this.

The interrogation ended that night and they took us for interrogation the next morning, but something else happened! After an hour, when the interrogation had not yet started and we were sitting there, a soldier came and took us into the cell. At night, we heard the sound of shooting. They opened the prison doors and took us to Baghdad. We were 20 kilometers away from Nashveh. We saw the beginning of a column. This column did not end until Baghdad itself. Every two kilometers by two kilometers, there was a base on which a gas tanker had been placed. There were no petrol pump devices. Everyone who opened the tap and filled the tank and closed the door and left. There was one for diesel; two side by side. It was like this until Baghdad.

When we arrived in Baghdad, we found out that the person who was responsible to deliver us wanted to go to his house. He told the soldier, “Turn that side.” There was a turn on which had been written "New Baghdad" and on the other side it had been written "Old Baghdad". After visiting his house and returning, he handed us over to the Ministry of Defense. The next morning, they took us for interrogation. He said you knew and did not say. We said: We did not know. As usual, we repeated the previous words. They beat and left us in the cell.