Ali Hussein Kadhim, an Iraqi soldier and a Shiite, was abducted by ISIS militants in June along with hundreds of others. During a mass execution of captured Iraqi soldiers, the bullet miraculously missed his head by a hairline and he went on to fake his own death in order to survive.
Khadim was a soldier in the Iraqi army. He was based in a former American base in Tikrit. A group of soldiers ran into ISIS jihadists while on mission and they were tricked into boarding their vehicles. They ended up as captives in an underground field in Tikrit.
According to Human Rights Watch reports, ISIS militants killed 560 to 770 over the following three days.
Khadim told the New York Times that prisoners following Sunni sect were spared death if they repent for their service to the government, while Shiites were immediately condemned for execution. He also easily identified himself in one of the footage released by ISIS.
Captives paraded with tied hands behind their back before being lined up for execution. Khadim said he was fourth in line and saw the first three men being killed. A bullet touched his hair and he fell pretending being shot. He added that all he was thinking about was his daughter. He then waited for the night to come and after making sure ISIS jihadists were gone, he escaped along with another man, who was shot but survived.
He ran away for three days surviving only on plants and insects, then swam through a river before meeting a Sunni family who took him in and fed him. Khadim spent over 17 days running away before reaching his uncle’s house in Najaf, a safe area for him.
The Moroccan Times.
