IRAQ: Eight years on, memories of U.S. forces shooting dead her parents in the northern Iraq city of Tel Afar still haunt Samar Hassan

Record ID: 205547

  • Title: IRAQ: Eight years on, memories of U.S. forces shooting dead her parents in the northern Iraq city of Tel Afar still haunt Samar Hassan
  • Date: 14th March 2013
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SAMAR HASSAN, SAYING: "My mother was sick, so we took her to the hospital. We set off before sunset and when we returned back the sun had already set, and all of a sudden Americans appeared in front of us, opening fire on us immediately without questioning. They fired at us immediately."
  • Embargoed: 29th March 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Iraq
  • Country: Iraq
  • Topics: Crime,Conflict
  • Reuters ID: LVA5XSBNAV8NVAQIY5VDN84O8919
  • Story Text: It never occurred to Samar Hassan that a drive to a hospital just a few miles away from her home in northern Iraq to treat her sick mother would be deadly.
    Samar, a Turkman from the city of Tel Afar, is one of thousands of Iraqis who have relatives that were killed by U.S. forces, since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
    Samar said she was sitting in the back seat of the car with her brother and three sisters on their way back from hospital on January 18, 2005 when a group of U.S. soldiers shot at them, killing her parents on the scene and seriously wounding her brother, Rakan.

    "My mother was sick, so we took her to the hospital. We set off before sunset and when we returned back the sun had already set, and all of a sudden Americans appeared in front of us, opening fire on us immediately without questioning. They fired at us immediately," said 16-year-old Samar, looking through old family's photos.
    Many Iraqis often accuse U.S. forces of being too quick to open fire, often killing innocent civilians. The U.S. military says it does all it can to minimise the risk of innocent Iraqis being killed.

    "We started to cry and shout: "mother, father", but they (US soldiers) told us that your mother and father were unhurt and they said that they would take them to hospital for treatment. We were so scared and we started to scream. We tried to go home, which was close, but they did not let us. They blocked our way and prevented us from going home. They told us that they would take us to the hospital. They took us to the hospital and they abandoned us there and left and they did not ask about us again," Samar added.
    A photograph taken by Getty Image photographer Chris Hondors, who was embedded with U.S. troops, shows a blood-covered 8-year-old Samar crying surrounded by U.S. soldiers after the shooting.
    The photograph caught the attention of the world and became one of the iconic images of the Iraq war.
    Eight years after the incident, Samar is still haunted by the sight of her parents lying in a pool of blood. She stopped going to school three years ago because she was not doing well and she now spends her time cleaning and watching television.

    "I remember everything. When I sit alone, my mind goes astray and I start to cry, then I run out of house," Samar said before breaking down into tears.
    Her sister Jilan who was with her in the car said the death of their parents has ruined their lives.

    "When we heard that our father and mother had died, we realized that we were in a big trouble. We do not have relatives, no uncles, and no one. We were left alone. What was my guilt? And what was the guilt of my sisters? We were all very young, only one of my sisters was older than me. We did nothing. May God take revenge on them," said 19-year-old Jilan, bursting into tears.
    After her parents were killed, Samar moved with her sisters and brothers to live with her brother-in-law Natheer Basheer Ali, who said that Samar had become so withdrawn, she sometimes goes for days without talking.

    "Samar is not a normal girl. She was severely shocked because when the incident happened, she went out of car when she saw her mother, father and brother covered with blood. She was bloodied too. This picture is imprinted on her memory. She always startles and trembles. She is often immersed in deep thoughts. She needs treatment," Ali said.
    Three years after her parents' death, Samar's brother Rakan was killed in a bomb attack that damaged the house where Samar now lives.
    The attack was believed to be carried out by insurgents in retribution for sending Rakan to Boston in the U.S. for medical treatment.
    March 2013 marks the ten years since the U.S.-led invasion in Iraq.
    END
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