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163I-HQ-1462938 Once the attack on Avoke began,[ _| saw fixed-wing lanes and helicopters continuously overflying the Avoke area. os Saw thousan f troops and tanks advancing from all directions. [et fenity, along with the others living in or near Maraneh, decided to head north to higher elevations and in the direction of Turkey. They left Maraneh on the night of August 24, 1988. On August 25, 1988, Iraqi forces attacked villages throughout Badinan with artillery and aircraft, delivering both conventional and chemical weapons. As Iraqi forces quickly occupied most of the routes north, and several families traveling with him were forced to travel through Zebar in the direction of Kafia, east of Gara Mountain. The group occasionally came under fire from the Iraqi troops, but it seemed the Iraqis were targeting the general area as opposed to specific group. By the time[__ J reached Kafila, the Iraqi forces was already preparing to surround the village. Hundreds of families from several neighboring villages had already fled to the area, Dé and supplies were scarce. Some considered surrendering to the bic Iraqi forces, but both Kurdish collaborators and Iraqi officers advised against it. heard from the families of the Kurdish collaborators that one Iraqi officer said, “I may not kill you, but I don’t know what Saddam will do.” Fearing capture,[___ Jana his group retreated to the higher elevations of the Gara Mountain. They waited there for two days, but conditions were harsh and the group had no food or water. They decided to return. to Maraneh and were almost there when they heard the amnesty announcement over the radio on September 6, 1988. Even as he announced th amnesty, however, SADDAM HUSSEIN showed no compassion | ]recallea HUSSEIN referring to them as "insects." [__]evaiuatea his situation: in addition to his children, Hé had to worry about his elderly mother, his pregnant wife who was in her third trimester, and a handicapped nephew. Not seeing any alternative] decided that his family stood the best chance of surviving if they surrendered. They were to rest in Maraneh for two days and then turn themselves over to the Iraqi forces. Concerned with the humiliation and tment she would suffer at the hands of the Iraqi troops,[- vise begged him to shoot her. In the end, however, because she was his wife and because she was pregnant, he could not bring himself to do it. 55