Amerli, the Turkmen town 160 km north of Baghdad, was liberated last Sunday following an eight-day siege by Islamic State forces. Some 19,000 Turkmen, among them thousands of women, children and elderly people, were trapped in the town without electricity, drinking water, sufficient food or medicine. Ismet Mohamed, a young teacher and the father of two children, is one of the 400 or so men of different ages who volunteered to defend the town. Mohamed told Ahram Weekly that on 12 June the three Turkmen villages of Birawchli, Karanaz and Chardaghli near Amerli were devastated by IS forces, with 25 people killed in Birawchili and dozens of families displaced. On that night, Mohammed recalled, the local elders asked the inhabitants to a meeting. “They said we had no other choice but to stay and defend our town and our lives,” he said. “Otherwise, we would lose everything and would probably be killed.” Adil Shkour, the town's mayor, Mohammed Taqi, a member of the Salahaddin provincial council, and Colonel Mustafa Bayatli all attended the meeting, at which it was decided to stay and defend the town from its attackers. Even as mortars were raining down on the town's defenders, trenches were dug and sandbags were prepared. “The night the mortars were used against the town the bombing lasted for hours,” said Nashat Jalal, a human rights activist from Amerli. “More than 300 mortars and hundreds of artillery shells were used against the town during the siege. It was a struggle to stay alive.” Speaking to the Weekly, Mohammed Mahdi Bayati, a leading Turkmen politician, said that the final operation to break the siege of Amerli began on Saturday after days of preparation. “It was an important success and a great victory,” he said. The United States announced that it had carried out three air strikes around Amerli. According to Iraqi sources, the successful operation was carried out by Iraqi ground forces, volunteer fighters, Kurdish Peshmergas and the Iraqi air force. “Breaking the siege means that the main road linking Baghdad with Kirkuk and the north of Iraq is now safe,” Torhan Al-Mufti, a leading Turkmen politician and a minister in the last cabinet, told the Weekly. “Those who are trying to divide Iraq know the importance of this road, which is the only one linking the south with the north. In other words, they have been trying to isolate the area from Baghdad. “But the Turkmens, who do not have an armed militia and have been defending Iraqi unity, have succeeded in bringing all the sections of Iraq together, forgetting their differences in the effort to break the Amerli siege. If this continues, Iraq will be freed and real reconstruction can begin.” Said Bayati, “The most important issue now is to support the residents of Amerli to protect the town and not let it slip back into the hands of the terrorists.” The Iraqi media quoted Nuri Al-Maliki, commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces, as having asked Turkmen volunteers who defended the town to join the regular Iraqi security forces and assume responsibility for keeping the town free. A visit to the town showed what the residents had gone through. Many of the houses were totally or partially destroyed, and thin children scoured the streets for food while their mothers congratulated the soldiers who had liberated the town. The town's markets were all empty. “I am very proud of my sons, the Amerli residents and myself,” said Um Abbas, the mother of three volunteer fighters. “We achieved all this together. I was also ready to fight even though I am a woman. Many women were ready to fight just like me.” “We were starving, but we took what little food we could get from the helicopters that were bringing food to the town to the fighters, especially the volunteers who had come to join us by helicopter,” she said. Hayder, a young volunteer fighter, said, “Today we have created a legend, and we urge those in other Iraqi cities and towns to be like us.” Mohammed, a young soldier, said, “We should congratulate the residents of Amerli. The victory is as much theirs as ours.” Turkmen activists said that the word shanli, the Turkmen word for glorious, should now be used to describe the town on their Facebook pages. The forces freeing Amerli brought food and drinking water a day before the beginning of the operations, and Iraqi and American planes also delivered food and drinking water. After the victory, Amerli residents said their main activity had been to thank the liberating forces. As the victory celebrations continued, discussions in Baghdad continued regarding the formation of a new cabinet. There is US pressure for this to be inclusive of all Iraqis. Reports have indicated that the new government could be announced as early as September 9, though other reports have said disagreements remain unresolved among the leading blocs. Meanwhile, the country's youth, though shocked by the two car bombs detonated on Monday in Baghdad, have shown their determination to get on with ordinary life. A Miss Iraq competition was organised on Monday, together with a competition to find the most elegant young man in Baghdad. Participants and organisers said the competitions were part of the fight to restore normality to Iraq. And shanli (glorious) Amerli has become a symbol of the determination to continue on the path of resistance until victory.
