The Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War - 48

By Mujtaba Al-Husseini
Translated From Arabic by: Muhammad Hussein Zavar-Kaaba
Machine Translation edited by Mandana Karimi

2026-9-20

The Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War - 48

By Mujtaba Al-Husseini

Translated From Arabic by: Muhammad Hussein Zavar-Kaaba

Machine Translation edited by Mandana Karimi

***

We, along with a number of soldiers from the battalion headquarters, boarded an armored personnel carrier driven by soldier "Zanun." We set off with the rest of the regiment towards the embankment. When we got there, they ordered us to stop. We stopped for about a quarter of an hour until all the members of the Third Regiment arrived. There, I heard from the deputy commander that the armored personnel carrier had broken down. The reason for its breakdown was actually sabotage by a number of soldiers who did not want to participate in the operation.

The movement of all those troops, armored personnel carriers, and tanks had created a lot of noise. After crossing the embankment and taking a dirt road behind the 12th Mechanized Brigade headquarters, we advanced towards the Sableh Bridge, where Iranian forces noticed us and began firing flares, turning the dark night into bright daylight.

We were supposed to reach the starting area of ​​the operation at exactly ten o'clock at night, at which time Iraqi artillery would begin a preliminary shelling of the Iranian forces. Our forces advanced slowly, as many of these forces were reluctant to advance. We had to stop. At one of the stops, I was sitting behind the driver inside the armored vehicle. The firing hatch on my left had been closed a few minutes earlier. Lieutenant Mohammad Javad was also sitting on the right side of the armored vehicle, waiting for Captain Salam to be evacuated. Captain Salam had been wounded by mortar shrapnel. The Iranians had put us under heavy fire. At that moment, the armored vehicle suddenly shook and my head hit the roof. A mortar had exploded on the left side of the armored vehicle, twenty meters away. The dust and smoke from the explosion darkened the surrounding area. I immediately turned on the flashlight. I noticed that the glass on the front of the armored vehicle was completely shattered. By chance, Lieutenant Mohammad Javad had exited the armored vehicle, otherwise he would have been hit by shrapnel, because he had been sitting in front of the armored vehicle before exiting. I called out to Lieutenant Mohammad Javad.

I said, “Are you alive?”

He replied, “Yes, I am alive.”

I said, “Come in quickly!”

He entered the armored vehicle. While his legs were shaking with fear, I asked him, “Are you hurt?”

He said, “No.”

I said, “Where is your helmet?”

He said, “It fell off my head and I couldn’t find it in the dark.”

He asked, “What happened?”

I said, “The driver forgot to close the protective hatch. That’s why the shrapnel entered the armor. »

A few moments later, I felt pain in my head. I put my hand on my head. I saw that it was swollen from hitting the iron roof.

I thanked God. I was lucky that the shooting hatch on my left was closed, otherwise the shrapnel would have entered the armored personnel carrier and torn my body to pieces.

The fire of the Islamic forces against our positions intensified. Various weapons turned that flat plain into a blazing and burning hell. Under that heavy fire, we continued moving towards the Sableh Bridge. Every now and then, due to the darkness, heavy shelling, and the penetration of the soldiers, we stopped moving. Due to extreme fear and anxiety, I stuck my head out of the upper hatch of the armored personnel carrier and put my feet on the driver's seat so that in case the armored personnel carrier was damaged, I could jump out in a suitable position. However, the operation was not without danger and we were hit by bullets that rained down on us like raindrops.

The march continued until 12 o'clock at night. At one point, Lieutenant Mohammad Javad told us: "We're getting off here, we've reached the attack site."

The driver parked the armored vehicle behind one of the shelters and we quickly got out. At that moment, the Iranians were shooting at us with RPG weapons. A bullet passed one meter above my head. I was shocked. I threw myself on top of the armored vehicle and onto the ground. I ran frantically towards the nearest trench. As soon as I entered the trench, I turned on the flashlight. I found a lantern hanging from the ceiling. I said to Lieutenant Mohammad Javad: "Give me your lighter!"

He gave me the lighter and I lit the lantern. I found myself inside a trench that our troops had left behind. There were three places to rest. The soldiers' supplies were scattered on the ground. When I saw the leftover food in the containers, I realized that they had quickly fled and had not had a chance to eat. We sat in a state of anxiety and worry. We did not know what to do. We were not yet familiar with the situation in the area. A moment later, I found two SAM-9 anti-aircraft missiles along with several boxes of ammunition belonging to our infantry forces inside the trench. Half an hour later, the orderly brought Captain Rahman, the commander of the second company, who had been wounded by several shrapnel hits to his body. I treated his wounds with the ointment I had with me. He collapsed on the ground in severe pain. With us was a radio operator and a Russian-made 105 radio. He occasionally contacted the companies to inform them of the situation on the front.

At 12 o'clock at night, a small number of our forces crossed the Sableh River and took control of another bridge. The engineers were supposed to build several movable bridges over the Sableh River for the remaining troops to cross, but due to heavy Iranian shelling, the engineers were unable to reach the river. As a result, their efforts to set up the movable bridges were thwarted. Therefore, the crossing operation failed.

At 3 am, an officer and two soldiers rushed in. I asked them, “What’s up?”

They said, “After 16 tanks crossed the river, the Iranians targeted the remaining tanks and set two of them on fire on the bridge. The bridge is currently closed.”

As time passed, our inner anxiety intensified. I could hear nothing but the sound of gunfire and the roar of tanks. I asked the officer who had taken refuge in our trench, “What are these missiles?”

He replied, “They are SAM-9 missiles. Two days ago, their crew was killed and their bodies were left in the desert near this trench.”

I asked: “What position are we in?”

He replied: “In the positions of the 48th Infantry Brigade headquarters, which the Iranians had captured at the beginning of the attack. Yesterday we managed to force them to retreat.”

We lived in those disastrous conditions for some time. We were waiting to be killed or captured at any moment. The clock showed five in the morning. Everyone who was inside the trench with me fell asleep from exhaustion. But my eyes, which had not seen the color of sleep, were staring at the trench door in bewilderment and concern. Half an hour later, I woke my friends and reminded them that it was not permissible to sleep in such conditions. Moments later, the officer left with his soldiers, and half an hour later they all returned with anxious faces. We asked them: “What happened?”

They said: “Our forces were defeated. The Iranians surrounded us.”

The news hit us like a sledgehammer. Everyone ran towards the trench door. At that moment, the wounded soldier who was lying on the ground got up, stood on his feet, grabbed my arm and said: “Doctor! I am married. I am your brother. Please don’t leave me alone, I might die!”

I told him: “Don’t be afraid, even if I die or am captured, I will not leave you here alone.”

To be continued …

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