Iraq: Mokhtar – The Latest Casualty of Mosul’s Attritional War

Mokhtar arrives in the emergency room with shrapnel in his chest and a door handle in his pocket.

He is 70 years old and has experienced war first-hand; losing a son, sister-in-law and two of his five grandchildren. “He never leaves the house in Mosul,” says his grandson, “it is the only place he feels safe.”

But when the handle of his front door broke, Mokhtar had to go out to buy a new one. At the bazaar he met a friend, stopping for a chat before returning home with the new door handle in his pocket. However, he never made it back: a Daesh drone released a bomb that exploded a few metres away from him.

A piece of shrapnel hit him under the collarbone, throwing him to the ground. The friend he had just met in the bazaar found him and called his nephew. It is still too early to know when Mokhtar will be well enough to return home.