The 318th Night of Memory

We Remained a Nice Memory Forever in the Minds of the ISIS Forces with Islamic Compassion and Morality

Elnaz Darvish
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2020-11-2


Note: The three hundred and eighteenth program of the Night of Memory was broadcast online on the Aparat website on the Thursday of October 22nd, 2020. Dr. Daneshmandi and Mr. Ali Anabestani shared their memories in this program and Davood Salehi was present in this program as the administrator.

The first narrator of this program is Dr. Daneshmandi. He was present in various parts of Syria to provide medical services from 2013 to 2018.

Dr. Daneshmandi began his speech with a description of the situation and the people who were present in Syria: "In Ramadan 2013, we were sent to Syria to provide medical services to the wounded who were sent to defend the shrine. We started our work in Syria at the same time with the limited equipment and facilities there and with two ambulances. In Syria, there was the Resistance Group, the Iraqi fighters known as Heydarion, the Afghan fighters known as the Fatemiyoun, and a group of Iranian and Hezbollah advisers; Hezbollah group had medical care for themselves, and the rest of the groups were on the Syrian front with our medical support. Our first operation was started with these limited facilities and four medical personnel in the area. A large area of the road was in the hands of the armed forces, and if a car did not cross the road fast enough, it would be hit with a long-range shot.

Our first operation began on the Reef or the outskirts of Damascus, in the Frosiya region. The operation to liberate the area took several days. I was responsible for providing medical services. Two people were present at the relief station, with an ambulance and a vehicle, which had prepared a limited space of a small building to help the injured. The location was also given to the combat teams that were going for the operation so that if they were injured during the operation, they could go to this medical space.

We provided services to Heydarion in the Frosiya region. One of our saddest memories in this area tool place when a group of Iraqi fighters (Heydarion) attacked to conquer the embankment of the armed opposition, they were not aware of the enemy ambushed forces behind the embankment; Hence, they were in great danger. They started the operation and moved forward and ambushed. Unfortunately, The 16 Iraqi fighters were caught in the enemy's ambush, and all 16 fighters were martyred. The opposition, who was originally against the Syrian government and were Wahhabis, gathered the bodies of the martyrs and took their mobile phones from their pockets, and started filming to scare us. They set fire to the bodies of the Iraqi martyrs and filmed them and sent them to their families in Iraq to create terror and prove their savagery to us and the families of the Iraqi martyrs.

Dr. Daneshmandi's next memory was of an operation in Khantouman: Khantouman was moved several times between us and the armed opposition, and in the last phase of the operation, which took place in this area, the enemy launched a very strong operation with the cooperation of the countries of the region; they had received cannons, tanks, personnel carriers, and a large number of special weapons. The operation began on a hot summer day at about one o'clock in the afternoon. As I was in charge of the health of the area, I was informed on the radio that the operation had been launched by the enemy and that Khantouman had come under heavy artillery fire. The only thing I could do at that time was to strengthen the radio in Khantouman Medical Center and go to the area and continue working with other comrades in the area.

At about 2 pm, we added a surgeon to the treatment team and moved for the relief station. When we got there, the relief station was full of wounded. We provided basic services to the injured, controlled their bleeding, and then transported the wounded by ambulance to a field hospital in Al-Hader. As the work went on, we slowly got closer to the west, and it was cool weather. I had turned on the radio to be aware of the situation on the front and the operations of the forces. Meanwhile, it was announced on the radio that Khantouman is under siege and no one will enter Khantouman anymore. I announced: "We are still in the relief station and receive the injured and ambulances are coming." I was informed: "The ambulance can no longer come and the route is closed, you had to get out of Khantouman." Anyway, it was announced that the route was closed and we were under siege. I looked around, except the medical team, which consisted of four Iranian nurses, a Syrian surgeon, and four Fatemiyoun relief workers; there were three martyrs were covered and four wounded were in the relief station, and several fighters were in the streets. When they found out that we were in the relief station, they came to us to get out of that mess and get organized. One of the nurses got responsible to take care of the injured and the rest decided to take the guns and get ready.so, the Quran's verse, "whoever saves a life is as though he had saved all mankind"[1] was over, and it was the turn of the verse, " Fight them until persecution is no more,"[2] to see what would be happened.

One of the Fatemiyoun warriors came to us from the alley, a short distance from us, in bloody clothes. When he arrived, I asked him what happened. He said that the armed opposition's forces reached the end of the alley and shot him. He was injured in the arm and side; we quickly took him to the relief station and closed his wounds and stopped the bleeding. We took our weapons and got ready because there was no way from the alley there. We organized ourselves a little and put on a war uniform to prevent them from entering the relief station as much as possible. At this point, we contacted to our forces by radio and asked them to forgive us, and announced that we must fight the enemy forces.

It was getting dark. We were ready too. We saw an ambulance coming towards us from a distance. We left the place where we had taken refuge. Two of the Fatemiyoun drivers, who did not pay attention to the checkpoint, moved when they heard our farewell message from behind the radio, and ignored the route that was under direct fire from the enemy, was coming toward us.  "Guys, how did you come?" asked I.  "We have come, but we do not promise to return, but we can fight along with you or help you in any mission," said they. It should be noted that most of the Afghan forces (Fatemiyoun) have a lion's heart and I have never seen anything like them. We met this group in Syria; some drivers took the injured to their destination and did not stop ambulance despite fires and the worst possible conditions. These two drivers had lion's heart as well.  We told them that the priority is with the wounded and the martyrs, who should be transferred back, and the next step is group therapy. In the first ambulance, we sent the martyrs and the wounded back, and when they announced that they had reached the safe area by radio, the second ambulance was sent with the medical staff and the rest of the forces, and thank God, this case ended well. The last group to leave Khantouman were the paramedics of the relief station. Khantouman fell into the hands of the enemy for a long time until it was released late last year.

Dr. Daneshmandi's next memory was related to the delivery of the body of martyr Mohsen Hojaji. ISIS families had to be transferred to a safe camp for them. In return, ISIS was to hand over the bodies of two martyrs, one of whom belonged to martyr Hojaji. Two of our Iranian friends went to deliver the bodies of the martyrs and identify them. They were very upset when they returned. "What happened?" asked we. "When we went there, we expected to see a body, perhaps without the head," said they. "So what did you see?" asked we. "It was not a body at all," said they," it was just a bone." Not more than a month had passed since the martyrdom of martyr Hojaji, typically some part of the body should have remained. But what they saw was a few pieces of bone that did not have even a speck of flesh on them.

The comrades asked ISIS why they destroy this body; although they were not a Muslim, they were a human being! No human does this with a corpse of the same kind! "This is done by the Iraqi ISIS, we are the Syrian ISIS." replied them. "How did you destroy this body like this?" asked the comrades them. "He was very durable," replied they," he was very durable. Every time we asked, he did not give information and he smiled. He did not once ask us to let him live. Maybe if he asked once, we would accept. Every time we asked, he did not give information and he smiled. He did not once ask us to let him live. Maybe if he asked once, we would accept. Because of his behavior and the reaction he made to our demands, we first beheaded him, then amputated his arms, and finally left his body in the desert for the animals to feed on. When we unzipped the cover, we saw a headless body with only a few pieces of bone."

Now, compare their crimes with what we did with their families! When four buses of the ISIS family arrived at our camp and waited to deliver the bodies of the martyrs to us, the first thing our comrades did during this time, which the ISIS delayed the delivery of the bodies of the martyrs for about 48 hours, was to provide their comfort service. They provided toiletries, water, and food. We created memories for them with our Muslim compassion and perseverance that will stay in their minds forever. We got them out of the area with a good memory, except for their love and care; whereas we were confronted with the destroyed body of the great martyr Hojaji, may God Almighty associated his pure souls with the saints.

Dr. Daneshmand continued his speech with other services provided to the ISIS family: "In the liberation of the city of Bokmal (Abu Kamal), we had allocated a hospital to the people of Bokmal and this hospital has been active for nearly 9 months and provided services to the people of Bokmal. The people who were living there were from the same ISIS family. Their wives used to come to this hospital to give birth, and we brought a doctor to them from Aleppo, which is a long way from Bokmal, so that they would be comfortable with her. When they came to be hospitalized, I asked their names, as well as the whereabouts of the baby's father, and they replied: "He is an ISIS member and on the battlefield." They gave birth to their children in our hospital and we gave them a pack containing baby supplies. The impact we had on the ISIS family after the liberation of Bokmal was a lasting one. After the birth of their children, they handed them over to us so that we could say Adhan[3] in their ears and chose names for them. The ISIS family used to tell us: "When the ISIS leaders wanted to leave here, they told us that if the Resistance Group came here, they would pass over you with a tank and bury you here." But what we found about you was only compassion and services and meeting our needs, and it was different from what the ISIS leaders said about you. God willing, we will be able to bring pure Muhammad's Islam to the forefront all over the world and spread the pure Muhammad's Islam with our Islamic spirit, Islamic ethics, and religion. Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you all."

 


1 - Quran, sura  Al-Maeda  

2 - Quran, sura Al-Anfal

3 - It is the Islamic call to worship.



 
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