The 343rd Night of Memoir-2

Compiled by: Leila Rostami
Translated by: Fazel Shirzad

2023-9-1

Note: The 343rd Night of Memoir was held on Thursday 26th of January 2022 in the Surah Hall of the Art Center with the presence of a group of soldiers and families of the Malik Ashtar Battalion of the Muhammad Rasoolullah (PBUH) Army and honoring the memory of the martyrs of this battalion, especially the martyr Mohammad Reza Karur. In this program, which was hosted by Davoud Salehi, the veteran and captures Mohammad Rostamifar, Saeed Tahuna and Nusratullah Akbari shared their memories.

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Saeed Tahuna, the second narrator of Night of Memoir, born on Novamber 29, 1966, due to his young age and small stature, tried to go to the front to solve his problems that prevent him from going to the front. One of these problems was that his parent did not allow him. He was accompanied by a seal from the propaganda unit of the mosque, and after obtaining the consent of the imam of the mosque, he obtained the consent of his parents and was sent to the front.

At the beginning of speech, narrator said: Our 1200 km border with Iraq from the southernmost point of Lab Arvand to the northernmost point of Iranian Kurdistan and Iraqi Kurdistan had its own special conditions for operations. It was decided to start the operation of Beit al-Maqdis[1] in the middle of the winter of 1987 in the Mawut region[2] of Iraq. The battalion was dispatched and we stayed at the Saqez barracks for one or two nights. We decided to enter the operational area from Shahid Motahari camp which was covered with snow. First, a car came and took the comrades to Imam Zaman Bridge. But the car did not move upwards from this bridge. The difficulty of the road and operation became clear from where we are and when we operate.

First, there was a march on the impassable, hard and steep hill of "Gardesh"[3] and reaching its peak, which took a lot of strength from all the forces. We reached the top at 11-12 o'clock in the night, in sub-zero cold and with the least facilities and maybe without facilities. There were no tents, no blankets, and no possibility to be safe and warm. We opened the sleeping bags we had, but the dew inside the sleeping bag was frozen and we couldn't bear the cold at all, and many comrades started to light a fire with any means they could find. I saw some people set fire to their sleeping bags to warm themselves. The supplies were zero and there was no food or dinner. Everyone stayed up until morning. The comrades’ muscles were sore from the cold, and a strange fatigue had really taken over the comrades' bodies. However, they endured until the morning.

In the morning they said that breakfast would come now, but it did not come. After that, they said lunch would come, but lunch didn't come. We were supposed to line up that night as well. The comrades used to warm their bodies with the sun to get rid of the cold that penetrated into their souls. It got dark and they said we should start the line tonight.

After the company commander and commanders of the three battalions of the comrades explained what our movement maneuver plan was like from the point of liberation[4] to the point of conflict, I said to myself that it is a very difficult task! Those who had a little experience in the war knew what a disaster it could be to move three battalions in a column and that too in the snow.

Ammar battalion, Habib battalion and Malik battalion started to move in a column of several kilometers. When the Ammar battalion was engaged, we were still passing through the liberation point. This whole column on this snow was like a clear sable. The Iraqis, who had become alert, tried to light the lights. They hit the entire route of the comrades directly with mortars, and with each mortar they hit in the middle of this column, several comrades were martyred and injured. After the conflict, in the morning, we reached the foot of Qomish Height, where Majid Kasaian spoke to radio and ordered to retreat.

On the way back, due to the casualties we had suffered along the way and the tiredness of the last 48 hours that had taken over the comrades, some of our Shiraz fell apart and the Iraqis poured heavier fire on the comrades and our casualties increased. The day after the retreat, the comrades became a new organization. Now this area also had special conditions. Mr. Qasim ordered us: Gather your comrades, because Iraq is in trouble. When we entered the line, the comrades of Martyr Beheshti's company were involved. They told us to sit behind a hill inside the trench and wait for us to give you orders. The Iraqis were able to handle them and we didn't need to enter into a direct conflict.

The narrator continued: After that, they ordered us to defend under the heights of Al-Aghlu. There was a height that we went to and a groove where we placed the comrades. We marked the place of the comrades inside the makeshift trenches they had dug. Because the bunker was not a group, we put all three or four people in a bunker to take turns guarding to see what order comes from above. We stayed for three days and nights with that cold, with that hardship and without the least facilities, and we were busy defending and protecting that area that we had captured and won.

You may not believe it, there were three or four people in a small canal, unlike a grave, which sometimes rained and poured on the comrades' heads. Because we were completely below the heights of Al-Aghlu, we were neither allowed nor able to travel during the day. The Iraqis had complete control from above. Only the comrades would come out of the canal at night to exercise and not get their leg muscles to be in a semi-sporty state that they could endure. In the evenings, only a short supply arrived. Due to the fact that it was winter and it had snowed in the area, there was no drinking water. The comrades had to go to the Iraqi bodies and empty their thermoses.

After three nights, they told us to go back tonight and a group of Martyr Beheshti Company replaced us. The darkness was very terrible. That is, he did not see eye to eye. Not even one meter of us could be seen. I told the comrades: I will go forward because I mentally know the path; Support each other so you don't get lost. When we fell down the slope, five or six of the comrades who were holding these carriers one by one would fall on us one by one into the trenches they had dug or the holes created by the mortar explosion, and we didn't know whether to laugh or be sad. ! We reached the bottom.

Martyr Barghamdi came by car to transport the comrades. The comrades got into the car when we saw that it was not Bargami! We asked why you don't walk. They said that the gun was buried in the mud. I went twenty steps to the back of the car and saw Barghamdi in that darkness at around twelve-one in the morning, his legs were covered in mud up to his ankles and his sleeves were rolled up. With his hand, he turns inside these muds so that the weapon that belongs to Bethalmal does not stay there. Maybe he kept us for a quarter of an hour until he found the gun and came and sat down and said let's go now.

Many of these comrades who were left cold in these areas and turned back, and even many of them froze due to the severe cold and were martyred. A few months later, they were martyred due to thirst in the Beit al-Maqdis operation 7 and in the heat of over 50 and 55 degrees.

To be continued...