Ali Hussein Kadhim is the only known survivor of the mass executions by the Islamic State (IS), a jihadist terror group operating in Iraq and Syria.
Kadhim, a Shiite, was a soldier with the Iraqi army when he was captured by IS militants in June.
In an exclusive interview with the New York Times, he relates how he escaped death, while hundreds of others were massacred in cold blood.
The New York Times reported:
As the firing squad shot the first man, blood spurted onto Mr. Kadhim’s face. He remembered seeing a video camera in the hands of another militant.
“I saw my daughter in my mind, saying, ‘Father, father,’ ” he said.
He felt a bullet pass by his head, and fell forward into the freshly dug trench.
“I just pretended to be shot,” he said.
A few moments later, Mr. Kadhim said, one of the killers walked among the bodies and saw that one man who had been shot was still breathing.
“At that point,” Mr. Kadhim said, “I had a great will to live.”
You can read the New York Time’s report here: “Escaping death in Northern Iraq“.
Read also: “ISIS vs mainstream Muslims“.
The following is the video interview with Kadhim by the New York Times.
Some scenes contain graphic violence and may be disturbing to the viewer.
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