My Country by Kassem Eid

Author:Kassem Eid
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781408895115
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2018-04-27T19:14:12+00:00

Damn humanity

21 August–10 September 2013

Dim lights, wailing women and the disgusting scent of blood and antiseptic – I was back in the field hospital. I opened my eyes to the sight of a nurse manually pumping air into my mouth.

I later found out that I’d stopped breathing, and the doctors had to give me more atropine and CPR. Two men then took me to a nearby friend’s house. I saw four friends of mine lying on the floor, so I lay down next to them and drifted off to sleep. It was daybreak when I woke again. I was still in pain, mainly from my chest, and my breathing was difficult. My eyes were raw. I could make out my friends still sleeping around me and a nurse sitting on a chair facing towards us. I got up. The only thing I could think to do was to splash myself with water, try to clean myself up a little and clear my head. I thanked the woman for taking care of me and went outside.

Assad’s forces had resumed the bombardment of Moadamiya, so my thoughts turned back to the front lines. I tuned out the thunderous explosions of Assad’s shelling and quelled the angry rumblings in my empty stomach. I prayed.

I was determined to keep fighting, still running on adrenaline, and made my way to the farmlands and olive groves of west Moadamiya, where a Free Syrian Army leader named Murad had set up his headquarters. I offered my help, and he gave me a weapon – an M4 assault rifle – something I’d only ever seen in computer games. I then headed towards the north-eastern front.

Alm Dar flashed the victory sign when he saw me. I went to his headquarters, where I picked out a protective vest and more ammunition – each of the leaders had different sets of weapons and protective gear. Then Abu Jabal, one of the top FSA commanders in Moadamiya, gathered all the fighters at the front together to explain our mission. We needed to push Assad’s troops back. If they were able to keep the areas they had gained they would bring up reinforcements, and we’d be at risk of losing the whole northern sector of the city.

We advanced, shouting prayers as we ran, spraying bullets and lobbing grenades towards the enemy in an effort to cover our move. Regime forces replied with a hail of gunfire and mortars. We reached the first building. One fighter hammered a hole in the wall with a pickaxe, a second hurled six grenades through the hole, and a third opened fire with his heavy machine gun. Then we all leaped into the building, running past the soldiers we had just killed. As we proceeded to the next building, Abu Jabal grabbed my shoulder, instructing me to cover our advance with the snipers. Suddenly a tank shell slammed into the wall next to me and threw me to the ground. Rubble from the impact rained down on to my head.

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