Diyala’s Dark Days
A local police chief in Iraq’s Diyala Province claims his officers have wiped out every vestige of al-Qaeda, but a journalist finds evidence that the insurgents are once again ramping up their operations. Not only have there been new incidents of suicide bombings, but also discoveries of hidden weapons caches on farms and in orchards.
One family was recently taken into custody as possible suspects, apparently with good reason. “She kept pushing me to wear explosive belts. ‘Wear the belt. You are a coward, you are a disgrace,'” the son tells the police. His mother weeps as she insists that she was coerced by al-Qaeda to give her sons up as suicide bombers. Another parent of an al-Qaeda murder victim paints a grim scenario. “They sent us a threat…leave or your destiny will be slaughter.”
See the full report filed by Fouad Hady for SBS Dateline in Australia. Hady originally left Baghdad to seek asylum in Australia, but now he’s returned to Iraq for a series of groundbreaking investigative accounts on his homeland. H/T Journeyman Pictures
