The Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War - 50

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

2026-10-4

The Third Regiment: Memoirs of an Iraqi Prisoner of War - 50

By Mujtaba Al-Husseini

Translated From Arabic by: Muhammad Hussein Zavar-Kaaba

Machine Translation edited by Mandana Karimi

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2- The Iraqis captured the Iraqis:

Among the other forces participating in this attack, we can mention the remnants of the brigades defeated in the first battle of Bustan, such as the 48^th and 23^rd brigades. The Iraqi commanders made a big mistake by allowing these defeated forces to participate in the counterattack, because they had lost their morale and combat capability and were struggling with the nightmare of death in this area.

According to some soldiers of the regiment, the soldiers of the 48th brigade also weakened the morale of our forces by fleeing the scene of the conflict in the very early hours of the attack. They were shouting, “You are surrounded … Iranian forces are behind you.” This issue instilled fear and terror in the hearts of our forces. Even more tragically, our forces opened fire on each other and surrendered to each other. It is said that when the commandos shouted "Allahu Akbar" during the attack, the 31^st Brigade opened fire on them, thinking they were Iranian forces, because it is only Iranians who shout "Allahu Akbar" and not Iraqis. In addition, a group of about 50 people surrendered to an Iraqi regiment, thinking they were Iranians, and moved towards them with their hands raised in surrender, but when they approached them, they saw that they were Iraqis like themselves.

3- Execution of a young Basiji:

I was standing at a rest area near Hur, next to the officers' kitchen car - which was adjacent to the mobile medical unit - when a soldier named "Abdul Karim Turki" from Kirkuk came up to us and asked me for some painkillers. I gave him what he wanted. He opened the conversation with the incident of the night of the attack and proudly said that he was among the soldiers who managed to cross the Sableh River. He said, "We crossed the river at night with Captain "Rahman" and First Lieutenant "Javad Alivi", who was in charge of the party regiment, and after a short fight on the riverbank, we captured a 16-year-old Iranian Basij and, after tying his hands, threw him into the trench. The fight continued until dawn, until our ammunition ran out. We decided to escape. The Iranian, who had learned of our decision, grabbed the Imams of the Holy Land, Fatima and Zaynab to leave him alone. At that time, I said to Lieutenant "Javad Alivi", "What should we do with him, Qurban? We cannot take him with us." He replied, "There is no point in taking him with us. Kill him right here." While his hands were tied, I emptied a magazine into his chest. Then we left him in the trench and fled.”

This damned soldier was telling the story with pride and joy; and my blood boiled upon hearing this story, and I said to him, “How heartless and cruel you are! Why would you kill a man who appeals to the Imams while both his hands are tied?”

He laughed with complete impudence and said, “Doctor! He was an Iranian magician. I killed him and I am happy about it.”

I could not bear his look any longer. I said, “Hurry up and go! Your work is done.”

A few days later, 5% of the regiment was given the opportunity to take leave. We left the place of service with Lieutenant “Mohammad Javad” and went home. After returning to the regiment and the region, we heard that the Iraqi Mujahideen in the Hoor region of Nasiriyah, between the cities of "Jabaishi" and Basra, had attacked a train carrying a convoy of soldiers traveling from Basra to Baghdad. During this sentence, more than 37 soldiers were killed and dozens of others were injured.

As soon as I entered the regiment's rest area, I was informed that the leg of the officer's cook, "Abdel Khalaf", was broken and one of the regiment's soldiers was killed in this incident. Two days later, a soldier from the regiment's administration came to me with the file of the Inquiry Council in his hand. I told him, "God willing, it will be fine."

In response, he said, "Doctor! This is the file of the Inquiry Council regarding the martyred soldier."

I opened the file and the name of the victim was "Abdel Karim." I asked the medical examiner, "Mohammad Salim," "Isn't this the same person who killed the Iranian prisoner?"

He said, "Why is this so?"

My tongue dropped involuntarily: "Glory be to God."

4- The Cow Killer:

Lieutenant "Zaid" was a Baathist and arrogant officer. He had a great hatred for Islam and Iran. This lieutenant commanded the first regiment of the 20^th Brigade. The axis of the 1^st Regiment's attack was the Sableh outpost, located south of the city of Sableh. A few hours before the attack began; he vented his anger and resentment towards a poor cow that was grazing nearby. Despite the protests of the people present at the scene, he drew his pistol and shot the cow to the ground with several bullets. After the poor cow was killed, a commotion broke out among the people. However, the regiment commander somehow quelled this sedition. Lieutenant "Zayd" was sitting inside a small trench during the attack on the Sableh outpost. While he and his men were fighting Iranian forces in that trench, a stray grenade came towards him and exploded right under his seat. Of course, he was not killed, but God wanted him to be an example to others and to see the punishment for his actions in this world. The explosion of this hand grenade caused such deep wounds in his seat that even doctors in London were unable to treat it.

5- Again, the defeat of Chadhabeh:

As I mentioned before, other Iraqi forces participated in a battle on the Chadhabeh-Shib axis. The participating forces consisted of members of the Presidential Guard under the command of Brigadier General Abdul Hadi Saleh, the 17^th Armored Brigade, and special forces from the 33rd Brigade. The forces of this axis suffered heavy losses and were unable to advance even a meter. The surface of the water of the Hur was covered with a pile of corpses. One of the most important losses in this axis was the killing of Brigadier General Abdul Hadi Saleh, a medal winner, a person respected by Saddam and a hero of the "Kolina Hill" operation. Before the attack, he commanded the Reserve Officers' College and during the attack, he commanded the Presidential Guard. According to eyewitnesses to the attack, his military rank was stripped in front of the Presidential Guard and he was eventually killed. His body remained in the restricted area and the Iraqi government did not broadcast the news of his death anywhere, not even the Iranians were informed of the commander's death.[1]

To be continued …

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