UN World Food Program launches investigation into its Sudan operations as famine spreads

UN World Food Program launches investigation into its Sudan operations as famine spreads
Villagers collect food aid dropped from a plane in gunny bags from a plane onto a drop zone at a village in Ayod county, South Sudan, where World Food Programme (WFP) have just carried out an food drop of grain and supplementary aid (AFP)
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Updated 28 August 2024
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UN World Food Program launches investigation into its Sudan operations as famine spreads

UN World Food Program launches investigation into its Sudan operations as famine spreads
  • Inspector general examining two top WFP officials in Sudan — sources
  • Investigators looking at whether staff hid alleged role of Sudan’s army in blocking food aid

NAIROBI/CAIRO: The UN World Food Program is investigating two of its top officials in Sudan over allegations including fraud and concealing information from donors about its ability to deliver food aid to civilians amid the nation’s dire hunger crisis, according to 11 people with knowledge of the probe.
The investigation by the WFP’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) comes as the UN’s food-aid arm is struggling to feed millions of people in war-plagued Sudan, now suffering one of the world’s most severe food shortages in years.
As part of the probe, investigators are looking at whether WFP staff sought to hide the alleged role of Sudan’s army in obstructing aid amid a brutal 16-month war with a rival paramilitary for control of the country, according to five of the sources who spoke to Reuters.
One of those being examined in the inquiry is the WFP’s deputy country director in Sudan, Khalid Osman, who has been given a “temporary duty assignment” outside Sudan, a de facto suspension, according to six sources.
A second senior official, WFP area manager Mohammed Ali, is being investigated in connection with the alleged disappearance of more than 200,000 liters of the UN organization’s fuel in the Sudanese city of Kosti, according to four sources. Reuters could not confirm whether Ali remains in his role.
Osman and Ali declined to comment when contacted by Reuters, referring the news agency to the WFP’s media office.
Asked about the probe by Reuters, the WFP said that “allegations of individual misconduct related to irregularities in pockets of our operation in Sudan” are under urgent review by its inspector general’s office. It declined to comment on the nature of alleged wrongdoing or the status of specific employees.
The US government’s aid agency, USAID, told Reuters in a statement that it was notified by the WFP on Aug. 20 of “potential incidents of fraud affecting WFP operations in Sudan.” USAID says it is the single largest donor to the WFP, providing nearly half of all contributions in a typical year.
“These allegations are deeply concerning and must be thoroughly investigated,” the USAID statement said. “USAID immediately referred these allegations to the USAID Office of the Inspector General.”
The investigation comes at a critical time for the WFP, which describes itself as the world’s largest humanitarian organization. It won the 2020 Nobel peace prize for its role in combating hunger and promoting peace.
The WFP is battling severe hunger on many fronts. It is seeking $22.7 billion in funding to reach 157 million people, including some 1.3 million on the brink of famine, mostly in Sudan and Gaza, but also in countries such as South Sudan and Mali. In addition to distributing food itself, the WFP also coordinates and provides logistical support for large-scale emergencies globally for the wider humanitarian community.
In recent years, however, its operations have been rocked by diversion and theft of aid in countries including Somalia and Yemen. The WFP and USAID last year temporarily suspended food distribution to Ethiopia following reports of the widespread stealing of food aid there.
More than half a dozen humanitarians and diplomats told Reuters they are worried that mismanagement at the heart of the WFP’s Sudan office could have contributed to the failure so far to deliver enough aid during the war between Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). The conflict has been raging for more than 16 months.
The investigation at the WFP comes weeks after the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), an international technical group tasked with measuring hunger, determined that famine had taken hold in at least one site in Sudan’s Darfur region. The IPC has classified 13 other areas across the country as being at risk of famine. And it says that more than 25 million people, or over half Sudan’s population, face crisis levels of hunger or worse.
Reuters reported in April that in some parts of the country, people were forced to survive by eating leaves and soil. In June, a Reuters analysis of satellite images showed that cemeteries were expanding fast as starvation and disease spread.
Aid workers say they have struggled to deliver relief, partly because of logistical constraints and fighting. But they also allege that army-linked authorities have hindered access by withholding travel permits and clearances, while RSF troops have looted aid supplies. Both factions deny impeding the delivery of humanitarian relief.
One focus of the investigation involves suspicions that senior WFP staff in Sudan may have misled donors, including UN Security Council member states, by downplaying the Sudanese army’s alleged role in blocking aid deliveries to areas controlled by the RSF, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter.
In one instance in June 2024, two people with knowledge of the probe said, WFP deputy country director Osman allegedly hid from donors that authorities aligned with the army in Port Sudan had refused to give permission for 15 trucks to carry life-saving aid to Nyala in South Darfur, an area that includes communities at risk of famine. The trucks waited for seven weeks before they finally were granted permission to proceed.
Osman, who was promoted within the WFP’s Sudan office with unusual speed, had high-level army connections, according to eight sources. He exercised control over which WFP colleagues gained visa approvals to enter Sudan, allowing him to limit access and scrutiny of the army’s management of aid, according to three people familiar with the system.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the allegations against Osman or what possible motive he may have had in misleading donors.
In its written response to Reuters, the WFP said it had taken “swift measures” to reinforce its work in Sudan due to the scale of the humanitarian challenge and following the IPC’s confirmation of famine in Darfur. “WFP has taken immediate staffing actions to ensure the integrity and continuity of our life-saving operations,” it added.
The war in Sudan broke out in April 2023. It has driven more than 10 million people from their homes, causing the world’s largest internal displacement crisis as well as worsening hunger, a spike of severe acute malnutrition among children, and outbreaks of disease such as cholera. The United States and rights groups have accused both sides of war crimes, which the combatants deny.
UN agencies have been operating out of Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast, where the army-aligned government relocated after losing control of most of the capital city of Khartoum early in the war.
The WFP and other UN agencies have complained that lack of access contributed to their inability to reach people in need, mostly in areas under RSF control such as Khartoum and the Darfur and Kordofan regions. But the aid agencies have largely avoided blaming either of the warring parties publicly.
In response to a request for comment about the military’s role in the hunger crisis, Sudanese armed forces spokesman Nabil Abdallah said the army is doing all it can to facilitate aid to “alleviate the suffering of our people.”
In response to questions, an RSF spokesperson said that the probe was a good step and that it should cover all humanitarian aid.
On Aug. 1, the IPC’s Famine Review Committee said that the war and the subsequent restrictions on aid deliveries were the main drivers of the food crisis in Sudan.
Some aid officials said they feared making public statements assigning blame, worrying the army could expel them from Port Sudan and they could lose access to army-controlled areas where hunger is acute.


Jordan's King to deliver speech at the EU parliament

Jordan's King to deliver speech at the EU parliament
Updated 7 sec ago
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Jordan's King to deliver speech at the EU parliament

Jordan's King to deliver speech at the EU parliament

STRASBOURG: Jordan's King Abdullah II is set to deliver a speech at the European Union parliment in Strasbourg France on Tuesday. 

In his address, he is expected to focus on a range of issues, including the devastating war in Gaza and its consequences.

This will be King Abdullah's sixth visit to the European Parliament, following his previous visits in 2002, 2007, 2012, 2015 and 2020.

The king is also scheduled to meet European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.


UAE coast guard evacuates 24 people from oil tanker following crash east of Strait of Hormuz

UAE coast guard evacuates 24 people from oil tanker following crash east of Strait of Hormuz
Updated 50 min 40 sec ago
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UAE coast guard evacuates 24 people from oil tanker following crash east of Strait of Hormuz

UAE coast guard evacuates 24 people from oil tanker following crash east of Strait of Hormuz
  • Emirati coastguard deployed search and rescue boats to the site, 24 nautical miles off the country's coast
  • The crew was evacuated to the port of Khor Fakkan

DUBAI: The UAE Coastguard has evacuated  24 crew members from an oil tanker Tuesday after a collision between two ships near the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Coastguard of the National Guard carried out today, Tuesday, an evacuation mission involving 24 crew members of the oil tanker ADALYNN, following a collision between two ships in the Sea of Oman,” read a statement on WAM News Agency.

The statement said the Emirati coastguard deployed search and rescue boats to the site, 24 nautical miles off the country's coast, and that the crew was evacuated to the port of Khor Fakkan.

British maritime security firm Ambrey had earlier said that the incident was not security-related, as the days-long conflict between Israel and Iran, which is just across the Strait of Hormuz from neighboring Oman, continued to unfold.

The strait is the strategic maritime entryway to the Arabian Gulf and sees about a fifth of the world’s oil pass through it, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

 

(with AP)


Israeli tank shelling kills 45 people awaiting aid trucks in Gaza, ministry says

Israeli tank shelling kills 45 people awaiting aid trucks in Gaza, ministry says
Updated 17 June 2025
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Israeli tank shelling kills 45 people awaiting aid trucks in Gaza, ministry says

Israeli tank shelling kills 45 people awaiting aid trucks in Gaza, ministry says
  • Medics said residents said Israeli tanks fired shells against crowds of desperate Palestinians awaiting aid trucks

CAIRO: Israeli tank shellfire killed at least 45 Palestinians as they awaited aid trucks in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the territory’s health ministry said, adding that dozens of others were wounded.
Medics said residents said Israeli tanks fired shells against crowds of desperate Palestinians awaiting aid trucks along the main eastern road in Khan Younis, expecting the number of fatalities to rise as many of the wounded were in critical condition.
A ministry statement added that the Nasser Hospital, where the casualties were rushed to, had been overwhelmed by the number of deaths and injuries.
There was no immediate comment by the Israeli military on the incident.


Israel orders 300,000 people in Tehran to evacuate while Trump issues ominous warning

Israel orders 300,000 people in Tehran to evacuate while Trump issues ominous warning
Updated 17 June 2025
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Israel orders 300,000 people in Tehran to evacuate while Trump issues ominous warning

Israel orders 300,000 people in Tehran to evacuate while Trump issues ominous warning
  • Trump leaves G7 summit early to deal with Mideast crisis
  • White House proposes ceasefire, nuclear talks this week between US’ Witkoff and Iran FM Araghchi

TEL AVIV, Israel: Israel warned hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate the middle of Iran’s capital as Israel’s air campaign on Tehran appeared to broaden on the fourth day of an intensifying conflict.
An Iranian television anchor fled her studio during a live broadcast as bombs fell on the headquarters of the country’s state-run TV station.
US President Donald Trump posted an ominous message on his social media site later Monday calling for the immediate evacuation of Tehran.
“IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON,” Trump wrote, adding that “Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

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The warning affected up to 330,000 people in a part of central Tehran that includes the country’s state TV and police headquarters. The military has issued similar evacuation warnings for civilians in parts of Gaza and Lebanon ahead of strikes.

Israel says killed top Iran commander and aide to supreme leader

The Israeli military said Tuesday it killed Iran’s top military commander, Ali Shadmani, in an overnight strike, calling him the closest figure to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ali Shadmani was apparently killed over Monday night. (Internet)

In a statement, the military said following “a sudden opportunity overnight, the (Israeli air force) struck a staffed command center in the heart of Tehran and eliminated Ali Shadmani, the war-time Chief of Staff, the most senior military commander, and the closest figure to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.”

The Israeli military said Shadmani had commanded both the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian armed forces.

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Trump team proposes Iran talks this week on nuclear deal, ceasefire

The US is discussing with Iran the possibility of a meeting this week between US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to discuss a nuclear deal and an end to the war between Israel and Iran, Axios reported on Monday citing four sources briefed on the issue.

Trump to depart the G7 early as conflict between Israel and Iran shows signs of intensifying

President Donald Trump is abruptly leaving the Group of Seven summit, departing a day early Monday as the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies and the US leader has declared that Tehran should be evacuated “immediately.”
World leaders had gathered in Canada with the specific goal of helping to defuse a series of global pressure points, only to be disrupted by a showdown over Iran’s nuclear program that could escalate in dangerous and uncontrollable ways. Israel launched an aerial bombardment campaign against Iran four days ago.

At the summit, Trump warned that Tehran needs to curb its nuclear program before it’s “too late.” He said Iranian leaders would “like to talk” but they had already had 60 days to reach an agreement on their nuclear ambitions and failed to do so before the Israeli aerial assault began. “They have to make a deal,” he said.
Asked what it would take for the US to get involved in the conflict militarily, Trump said Monday morning, “I don’t want to talk about that.”

White House says US forces remain in ‘defensive posture’ in Middle East

US forces in the Middle East remain in a “defensive posture, and that has not changed,” the White House said Monday as Israel and Iran traded heavy strikes for a fourth day.
“We will defend American interests,” White House spokesperson Alex Pfeiffer added in a post on social media.

China tells citizens in Israel to leave ‘as soon as possible’

China’s embassy in Israel on Tuesday urged its citizens to leave the country “as soon as possible,” after Israel and Iran traded heavy strikes.
“The Chinese mission in Israel reminds Chinese nationals to leave the country as soon as possible via land border crossings, on the precondition that they can guarantee their personal safety,” the embassy said in a statement on WeChat.
“It is recommended to depart in the direction of Jordan,” it added.

Airports close across the Mideast as the Israel-Iran conflict shutters the region’s airspace

Israel has closed its main international Ben Gurion Airport “until further notice,” leaving more than 50,000 Israeli travelers stranded abroad. The jets of the country’s three airlines have been moved to Larnaca.
In Israel, Mahala Finkleman was stuck in a Tel Aviv hotel after her Air Canada flight was canceled, trying to reassure her worried family back home while she shelters in the hotel’s underground bunker during waves of overnight Iranian attacks.
“We hear the booms. Sometimes there’s shaking,” she said. “The truth, I think it’s even scarier … to see from TV what happened above our heads while we were underneath in a bomb shelter.”


Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office warned Israelis not to flee the country through any of the three crossings with Jordan and Egypt that are open to the Israeli public. Despite having diplomatic ties with Israel, the statement said those countries are considered a “high risk of threat” to Israeli travelers.
Iran on Friday suspended flights to and from the country’s main Khomeini International Airport on the outskirts of Tehran. Israel said Saturday that it bombed Mehrabad Airport in an early attack, a facility in Tehran for Iran’s air force and domestic commercial flights.

Israel says strikes have set back nuclear program
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israeli strikes have set Iran’s nuclear program back a “very, very long time,” and told reporters he is in daily touch with Trump.
“The regime is very weak,” he added.
Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, uranium enrichment sites and nuclear scientists, is necessary to prevent its longtime adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon. The strikes have killed at least 224 people since Friday.
Iran maintains that its nuclear program is peaceful, and the US and others have assessed that Tehran has not had an organized effort to pursue a nuclear weapon since 2003. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned that the country has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs should it choose to do so.
Iran has retaliated by launching more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel and more than 500 injured.
The back-and-forth has raised concerns about all-out war between the countries and propelled the region, already on edge, into even greater upheaval.
Israel’s military issues evacuation warning affecting up to 330,000 people

Earlier Monday, Israel’s military issued an evacuation warning to 330,000 people in a part of central Tehran that houses the country’s state TV and police headquarters, as well as three large hospitals, including one owned by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The city, one of the region’s largest, is home to around 9.5 million people.
Israel’s military has issued similar evacuation warnings for civilians in parts of Gaza and Lebanon ahead of strikes.
State-run television abruptly stopped a live broadcast after the station was hit, according to Iran’s state-run news agency. While on the air, an Iranian state television reporter said the studio was filling with dust after “the sound of aggression against the homeland.” Suddenly, an explosion occurred, cutting the screen behind her as she hurried off camera.

Heavy traffic on the Karaj-Chalus road as vehicles move westwards in a direction leading out of Tehran, Iran. (Reuters)

The broadcast quickly switched to prerecorded programs. The station later said its building was hit by four bombs.
An anchor said on air that a few colleagues had been hurt, but their families should not be worried. The network said its live programs were transferred to another studio.
Israel claims ‘full aerial superiority’ over Tehran
Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Monday that his country’s forces had “achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran’s skies.”
The military said it destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, a third of Iran’s total, as well as two F-14 planes that Iran used to target Israeli aircraft and multiple launchers just before they launched ballistic missiles toward Israel.
Israeli military officials also said fighter jets had struck 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran’s Quds Force, an elite arm of its Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran.

Smoke and fire rise at an impacted facility site following missile attack from Iran on Israel, at Haifa, Israel. (Reuters)

The Israeli strikes “amount to a deep and comprehensive blow to the Iranian threat,” Defrin said.
One missile fell near the American consulate in Tel Aviv, with its blast waves causing minor damage, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee said on X. He added that no American personnel were injured.
Explosions rock Tel Aviv, Petah Tikva and Haifa oil refinery
Powerful explosions rocked Tel Aviv shortly before dawn Monday, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky over the coastal city.
Authorities in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva said Iranian missiles hit a residential building there, charring concrete walls, shattering windows and ripping the walls off multiple apartments.
Iranian missiles also hit an oil refinery in the northern city of Haifa for the second night in a row. The early morning strike killed three workers, ignited a significant fire and damaged a building, Israel’s fire and rescue services said. The workers were sheltering in the building’s safe room when the impact caused a stairwell to collapse, trapping them inside.
Firefighters rushed to extinguish the fire and rescue them, but the three died before rescuers could reach them.
No sign of conflict letting up
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, appeared to make a veiled outreach Monday for the US to step in and negotiate an end to hostilities between Israel and Iran.
In a post on X, Araghchi wrote that if Trump is “genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential.”
“It takes one phone call from Washington to muzzle someone like Netanyahu,” Iran’s top diplomat wrote. “That may pave the way for a return to diplomacy.”
The message to Washington was sent as the latest talks between the US and Iran were canceled over the weekend after Israel targeted key military and political officials in Tehran.
On Sunday, Araghchi said that Iran will stop its strikes if Israel does the same.
The conflict has also forced most countries in the Middle East to close their airspace. Dozens of airports have stopped all flights or severely reduced operations, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded and others unable to flee the conflict or travel home.
Health authorities reported that 1,277 people were wounded in Iran. Iranians also reported fuel rationing.
Rights groups such as the Washington-based Iranian advocacy group Human Rights Activists have suggested that the Iranian government’s death toll is a significant undercount. The group says it has documented more than 400 people killed, among them 197 civilians.
Ahead of Israel’s initial attack, its Mossad spy agency positioned explosive drones and precision weapons inside Iran. Since then, Iran has reportedly detained several people and hanged one on suspicion of espionage.

 


Airports close across the Mideast as the Israel-Iran conflict shutters the region’s airspace

Airports close across the Mideast as the Israel-Iran conflict shutters the region’s airspace
Updated 17 June 2025
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Airports close across the Mideast as the Israel-Iran conflict shutters the region’s airspace

Airports close across the Mideast as the Israel-Iran conflict shutters the region’s airspace
  • Many in the region fear a wider conflict as they watch waves of attacks across their skies every night

BEIRUT: After Israeli strikes landed near the hotel where he was staying in the Iranian province of Qom, Aimal Hussein desperately wanted to return home. But the 55-year-old Afghan businessman couldn’t find a way, with Iranian airspace completely shut down.
He fled to Tehran after the strike Sunday, but no taxi would take him to the border as the conflict between Iran and Israel intensified.
“Flights, markets, everything is closed, and I am living in the basement of a small hotel,” Hussein told The Associated Press by cellphone on Monday. “I am trying to get to the border by taxi, but they are hard to find, and no one is taking us.”
Israel launched a major attack Friday with strikes in the Iranian capital of Tehran and elsewhere, killing senior military officials, nuclear scientists, and destroying critical infrastructure. Among the targets was a nuclear enrichment facility about 18 miles from Qom. Iran has retaliated with hundreds of drones and missiles.
The dayslong attacks between the two bitter enemies have opened a new chapter in their turbulent recent history. Many in the region fear a wider conflict as they watch waves of attacks across their skies every night.
The conflict has forced most countries in the Middle East to close their airspace. Dozens of airports have stopped all flights or severely reduced operations, leaving tens of thousands of passengers stranded and others unable to flee the conflict or travel home.
Airport closures create ‘massive’ domino, tens of thousands stranded
“The domino effect here is massive,” said retired pilot and aviation safety expert John Cox, who said the disruptions will have a huge price tag.
“You’ve got thousands of passengers suddenly that are not where they’re supposed to be, crews that are not where they are supposed to be, airplanes that are not where they’re supposed to be,” he said.
Zvika Berg was on an El Al flight to Israel from New York when an unexpected message came from the pilot as they began their descent: “Sorry, we’ve been rerouted to Larnaca.” The 50-year-old Berg saw other Israel-bound El Al flights from Berlin and elsewhere landing at the airport in Cyprus. Now he’s waiting at a Larnaca hotel while speaking to his wife in Jerusalem. “I’m debating what to do,” Berg said.
Israel has closed its main international Ben Gurion Airport “until further notice,” leaving more than 50,000 Israeli travelers stranded abroad. The jets of the country’s three airlines have been moved to Larnaca.
In Israel, Mahala Finkleman was stuck in a Tel Aviv hotel after her Air Canada flight was canceled, trying to reassure her worried family back home while she shelters in the hotel’s underground bunker during waves of overnight Iranian attacks.
“We hear the booms. Sometimes there’s shaking,” she said. “The truth, I think it’s even scarier … to see from TV what happened above our heads while we were underneath in a bomb shelter.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office warned Israelis not to flee the country through any of the three crossings with Jordan and Egypt that are open to the Israeli public. Despite having diplomatic ties with Israel, the statement said those countries are considered a “high risk of threat” to Israeli travelers.
Iran on Friday suspended flights to and from the country’s main Khomeini International Airport on the outskirts of Tehran. Israel said Saturday that it bombed Mehrabad Airport in an early attack, a facility in Tehran for Iran’s air force and domestic commercial flights.
Many students unable to leave Iran, Iraq and elsewhere
Arsalan Ahmed is one of thousands of Indian university students stuck in Iran, with no way out. The medical student and other students in Tehran are not leaving the hostels where they live, horrified by the attacks with no idea of when they’ll find safety.
“It is very scary what we watch on television,” Ahmed said. “But scarier are some of the deafening explosions.” Universities have helped relocate many students to safer places in Iran, but the Indian government has not yet issued an evacuation plan for them.
Though airspace is still partially open in Lebanon and Jordan, the situation is chaotic at airports, with many passengers stranded locally and abroad with delayed and canceled flights even as the busy summer tourism season begins. Many airlines have reduced flights or stopped them altogether, and authorities have closed airports overnight when attacks are at their most intense. Syria, under new leadership, had just renovated its battered airports and begun restoring diplomatic ties when the conflict began.
Neighboring Iraq’s airports have all closed due to its close proximity to Iran. Israel reportedly used Iraqi airspace, in part, to launch its strikes on Iran, while Iranian drones and missiles flying the other way have been downed over Iraq. Baghdad has reached a deal with Turkiye that would allow Iraqis abroad to travel to Turkiye — if they can afford it — and return home overland through their shared border.
Some Iraqis stranded in Iran opted to leave by land. College student Yahia Al-Suraifi was studying in the northwestern Iranian city of Tabriz, where Israel bombed the airport and an oil refinery over the weekend.
Al-Suraifi and dozens of other Iraqi students pooled together their money to pay taxi drivers to drive 200 miles (320 kilometers) overnight to the border with northern Iraq with drones and airstrikes around them.
“It looked like fireworks in the night sky,” Al-Suraifi said. “I was very scared.”
By the time they reached the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, it was another 440 miles (710 kilometers) to get to his hometown of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq.
Back in Tehran, Hussein said the conflict brought back bitter memories of 20 years of war back home in Afghanistan.
“This is the second time I have been trapped in such a difficult war and situation,” he said, “once in Kabul and now in Iran.”