'He Died Alone': A Grieving Father Searches For His Teenage Son In Mosul
Bashar Abdul Jabar's son was trapped when his legs were crushed during Iraq's military campaign to retake Mosul from ISIS. The family had to leave him behind. "We have no comfort," says Abdul Jabar.
by Jane Arraf
Sep 04, 2017
4 minutes
In a sea of loss, Bashar Abdul Jabar is just one among many.
The small man in a shirt several sizes too big is standing in the parking lot of the Iraqi civil defense forces base in Mosul, hoping to retrieve the body of his son. To his right is a young man whose entire family — 11 people — was killed. To his left, a man who lost 18 relatives.
Nearby, a 4-year-old boy who lost his mother and three brothers clings silently to his father's leg.
Abdul Jabar, a father of five, lost his son Ahmed. He was 15. When their house collapsed around them during fighting in June between Iraqi troops and ISIS, Ahmed was trapped. The rest
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