Three decades following the end of the Iraqi-Iranian war, residents of some border areas still recall its memories on daily basis.
“This is one of the lines that still stands from the war,” one Mandali resident said as he pointed to a “sand wall” built by Iraqi forces during the war to prevent their soldiers and vehicles from being hit by Iranian missiles while crossing the area.
“The city still holds painful memories from the 1980’s war,” Qassem Abu Malak, 40, told Asharq Al-Awsat.
The sand wall traverses hundreds of kilometers near the border with Iran, and it passes the Waset and Diyala governorates through the city of Mandali, stretching to the north towards the district of Khaniqeen near the Sulaymaniyah governorate in the Kurdistan District.
Abu Malak said that few days ago, a hunter found the body remains and the identity card of an Iraqi soldier who was hit by an Iranian bomb in the mountainous area near the city center.
He also said that one shepherd was killed by a cluster bomb in a nearby village few days ago as he toured the area where the first cannon of “Ayat Allah” fell in September 1980.
On 4 September 1980, the Iraqi border towns of Khanaqin, Mandali, Naft, Khaneh and Zarbatiyah were attacked by Iranian forces.
Mandali, 160 kilometers east of the Iraqi capital, is right on the border between the two nations.
A mixture of Arabs, Kurdish Feylis and Iraqi Turkmen inhabits the town.
During the war, Abu Malak lost his uncle and two cousins.
“The consequences of war extend for several decades after peace is reached,” he said, adding that he hoped the phase of wars in Iraq “is fold forever.”
