Two Indians who returned from Najaf in Iraq recount their horrible ordeal that began almost a month ago when the Sunni militants took over Iraq and declared a new Islamic state. They speak to Rediff.com’s Vicky Nanjappa about the constant gunfire, explosions in Iraq and the difficult future that lies ahead of them.

There were tears, hugs and a sigh of relief at Kozhikode railway station on Wednesday evening as anxious relatives finally reunited with their loved ones who had managed to make their way home from war-torn Iraq.

“The worst is over and the time we have spent in Iraq since the first week of June is something we will never be able to forget even if we wanted to,” Safdar Kunhi and Mohammad Abbas, who returned from Najaf in Iraq, told Rediff.com.

“For almost a month we were confined to our rooms in Najaf. The militants from the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria are barbarians. I have never heard of anything or seen anything like this before. The violence is unparalleled, the brutality unbearable,” said Abbas, speaking about the rebels who have taken over Iraq and declared it a new Islamic state.

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