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Iraq, Baghdad/Abu Dsheer - This memorial day, as citizens of the United States, and perhaps elsewhere, are remembering the fallen soldiers of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as previous conflicts, Alive in Baghdad asks you to remember the civilian fallen as well. It's been estimated that 1.3 million women have been widowed in Iraq due to war, ranging from the Iran-Iraq war to the most recent conflict which is still going on today. Although its difficult to be certain if this number is accurate, or to know just how many have been widowed in the most recent conflict, Iraq's acting Minister of Womens' Affairs, Narmeen Othman, suggests that at least 70,000 women have been widowed due to the most recent war. However, these numbers are disputed widely, and while a government committee on women's affairs has claimed there are just 1.3 million widows in Iraq, others have reported drastically different numbers. One source in the Ministry of Women's Affairs told an NBC staffer in 2007 that there were 3 million widows in Iraq due to the various wars of the last two decades. Despite this already shocking number, the United Nations news service, IRIN, reported in 2006 that there are 8 million widows nation-wide, with upwards of 330,000 in Baghdad alone. To put that in perspective, if true, it would mean that as much as 6-7 percent of Baghdad's population may be made up of widows, suggesting that the number of children with only one parent left is likely to be double, or triple this, if not more. The primary cause for women to be widowed today is sectarian violence and terrorism. Areas such as Abu Dsheer, Hawr Rajab, and other tumultuous districts that have seen some of the worst internecine fighting understandably have some of the most prevalent populations of widows and orphans. Abu Dsheer has been considered one of the bloodiest conflict areas in Baghdad, due to the influence militias have held there. Abu Dsheer is located in the south of Baghdad near Al-Saha neighborhood. Since 2004, Abu Dsheer was controlled by Al-Qa'eda on one side and the Sadr Movement on the other side, Many people was assassinated due to their sect whether they were Sunni or Shi'a. The Iraqi government tried many times along with Coalition forces to restore security in Abu Dsheer with no success. In 2006 there were many bombings taking place in Abu Dsheer, in addition to the battles between the Iraqi or Coalition forces and the militias. The civilian casualties were very high in Abu Dsheer, and the families living there faced grave financial difficulties due to the bad security conditions which prevent them from going to work or looking for jobs within Abu Dsheer. There are NGOs trying to help the people living there, by providing them with medical and financial aid according to their abilities. NGOs such as Al-Tathamon Social Organization (Social Solidarity Organization) are trying to fix some of the problems in areas like Abu Dsheer. The Organization was created on the 10th of July 2007 in order to help families or individuals whom having medical or financial problems. They also help the families whom lost there provider, like the father of that family or the mother. The Social Solidarity Organization has offices located in several areas such as Kadhimiya, Sadr City, Al-Husseiniya and Al-Nahrawan, as well as Abu Dsheer. Due to the difficulty these organization have finding funding, many such as the Social Solidarity Organization and Al-Yateem Charity, which help the women interviewed by Alive in Baghdad, receive support from the Sadr Movement. Although they claim to have sought financial support from the Iraqi government, both the organization, and the widows interviewed by Alive in Baghdad say they have not received any support from the government. *** If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider making a recurring donation, or one-time donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can also purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts or DVDs to spread the word!

Baghdad/Abu Dsheer, Iraq - There are many Sunni Families living in Hawr Rajab, and a great number were attacked by people wearing black uniforms similar to the uniform that the Mehdi Army is known to wear, which is also considered similar to the uniform worn by members of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. The Sahwa forces are gathered in Hawr Rajab trying to protect those families from being attacked during the night or the early hours of the morning. Several attacks happened to families living in Hawr Rajab occurring like raids. When men in black uniforms attack a family they often kidnap the father or the brother or sometimes the whole family, and it is normal to find the family member dead after several days. These actions pushed some families to flee Hawr Rajab and move to a nearby area called Abu Dsheer which seems to be demonstrating ongoing solidarity within Iraq society, as the families who spoke with Alive in Baghdad are Sunni families that fled from Hawr Rajab to Abu Dsheer, which is known to be a majority Shi'a neighborhood. Since the Sahwa force was established in Hawr Rajab there have been a number of massacres, demonstrating the ongoing instability that discourages many displaced families from returning home. Hawr Rajab was controlled by Al-Qaeda and used to be known as a major area under Al-Qaeda's control. In the beginning they targeted anyone who worked with the United States military, and after awhile, Al-Qaeda started to establish rules to be followed by the people living therem like men are not allowed to wear shorts have a short beard, and for all women they must wear a veil on their head when they go out of their homes. The people lof Hawr Rajab liked the idea of the Sahwa Forces and many people joined that force in order to get Al-Qaeda out of their area. Al-Qaeda decided to retaliate against this behavior of people living there and to show them that Al-Qaeda is still strong and still controlling the area. Members Al-Qaeda began to assassinate heads of the tribes that joined Al-Sahwa, and the young people that joined, in order to push them away from the Sahwa. One of the methods of assassinations was to behead the kidnapped person and put the victim's head on their chest, and leave the body in front of their family's ho,e By early 2008 Al-Qaeda had burned and destroyed some houses for random people and killed people only for belonging to a certain tribe that agreed with the Sahwa method and that reason pushed people to flee to anywhere and made many go to a Shi'a neighborhood just to stay alive. *** If you appreciate the insightful content provided by Alive in Baghdad, which you won t find anywhere else, please consider becoming a paying subscriber, or making a donation to Alive in Baghdad. You can also purchase Alive in Baghdad T-shirts to spread the word!