On June 12, 2014, an estimated 1,700 Iraqi Air Force cadets were slaughtered by ISIS in Tikrit. Almost a year later, forensic teams discovered mass graves near the massacre site, containing dozens of corpses of the cadets. The ongoing investigations are continuing to determine the identities of the bodies and the fates of the others. Since the massacre took place, families of the cadets have tried in vain to get an answer on what happened to their sons; they staged protests and demanded to have more information. With no bodies to grieve for, some keep the hope that their loved ones are still alive.
For many cadets, the bank of the river at the edge of Saddam's palace is the last thing they saw before they were executed and thrown into the Tigris.
بالنسبة لكثير من الطلاب كانت ضفة النهر عند حافة قصر صدّام حسين هي آخر ما عاينوه قبل أن يُعدموا وتُرمى أجسامهم في مياه دجلة.
Cadets who survived the mass execution by faking their deaths swam across the Tigris River to the other side of the city.
الطلاب الذين نجوا من الإعدام الجماعي بادعاء الموت هربوا سباحةً عبر دجلة إلى الضفة الأخرى من المدينة.
On June 12, 2014, Mushtaq called his family to tell them that they were surrounded by ISIS and the call dropped. After that they couldn't reach him anymore.
في 12 حزيران 2014 هاتَفَ مُشتاق عائلته ليخبرهم أن داعش تحاصر المكان، قبل أن تنقطع المكالمة. كانت تلك آخر مرة سمعوا فيها صوته.
Mushtaq was 21 years old when he went missing; he was a soldier in the 18th division of the army.
كان مُشتاق في الحادية والعشرين حين اختفى؛ كان جندياً بالفرقة الثامنة عشر بالجيش العراقي.
Born in 1991 in Iraq, Ahmad Mousa is a photographer and a video journalist. Founder of the project Everyday Iraq (@everydayiraq). His work has been published by Time Magazine, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, and others.
Born in 1991 in Iraq, Ahmad Mousa is a photographer and a video journalist. Founder of the project Everyday Iraq (@everydayiraq). His work has been published by Time Magazine, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, and others.