Fisherman Talib Fadl Muhammad (52 years old) was accustomed to going out on fishing trips in search of livelihood with his son, the twenty-something Muhammad, where they would catch fish in the surrounding areas of Tuz Khurmatu (75 km northeast of Salah al-Din). The road linking Tikrit and Tuz Khurmatu is a series of high hills with water sites known as Al-Hawi, and collectively, they are called the Zarka Water Valley, which connects to the Daquq district to the west and extends into the terrifying Shai Valley south of Kirkuk.
Earlier on Monday, a security source reported the killing of two fishermen as they were attacked by a group of armed militants believed to belong to the "ISIS" organization, in the Al-Hawi area near Lake Amerli in Salah al-Din Governorate. The source confirmed that the attack took place today when the militants ambushed the fishermen in the area, resulting in the immediate death of the two fishermen, while security forces rushed to the scene to begin investigations and track down the perpetrators. The source indicated that security forces launched a wide search operation in the area for the fleeing militants.
In seeking his livelihood, Ali Al-Bayati, a resident of Tuz Khurmatu, says that "Abu Muhammad the fisherman has been known for decades for his work in fishing. He leaves in the early morning hours to catch fish and returns with his young son Muhammad to the market in Tuz Khurmatu to sell what he has caught. The outskirts of Tuz Khurmatu feature a water surface in the Al-Hawi area of Zarka, which is an open aquatic area located between Tuz Khurmatu and Tikrit, and is considered one of the strongholds of the terrorist ISIS."
He adds that "fisherman Abu Muhammad had no idea that he would go from being a fisherman to being prey for ISIS terrorists, as he took his small boat and set out into the depths of Zarka waters. When he was spotted by ISIS terrorists, they opened fire with their snipers, killing him and his son Muhammad."
He confirmed that "his relatives and friends, upon hearing of the incident, went with a force from the police and Iraqi army to reach his boat, which was retrieved by riverine forces and taken to forensic medicine at the Tuz Khurmatu hospital." Al-Bayati points out that "the relatives and family of the father and son, in extreme sorrow, buried them in the cemetery of Tuz Khurmatu, as their search for livelihood ended up being the last trip, leaving their family without a breadwinner or protector other than God Almighty, amidst the populace’s outrage over the necessity to eliminate the presence of ISIS terrorist groups in the outskirts of Tuz Khurmatu and Amerli."
Regarding ISIS in Zarka, the mayor of Amerli District, Maitham Nuri, states that "the fisherman Talib Fadl Muhammad and his son, while on a fishing trip in the Al-Hawi area near the village of Zanjalia, approached the ISIS organization's outposts present in this area, prompting the organization to open fire on the fisherman and his son, killing them. After receiving information, a force from the army and police was able to transport the bodies to forensic medicine."
Nuri adds that "ISIS elements are present in the Zarka area, and this water basin connects to the Al-Azim area in Diyala, representing a large water strip that requires a wide security operation to cleanse it of these terrorist groups. The security forces have full information about the presence of these groups and monitor their movements at night via thermal cameras." He warned fishermen against fishing in this area, noting that similar incidents have occurred in past years and that ISIS is present in this region.
