In Dhuluiya .. The cemetery of ISIS opponents turns to a sign of Sunnis rejection to ISIS

of fighters who fought ISIS organization in the town and the neighboring cities.

About 125 people, most of them from Sunni tribes were buried in the cemetery who were killed during the defense of the town in an effort to prevent ISIS control on it the summer of last year.

Iraqis flock from Baghdad and the provinces of south of the country as well as the families of the victims to the cemetery, located in the center of Dhuluiya, 100 km south of Tikrit.

In front of the cemetery’s gate , arrivals buy flowers to be scattered on graves as some pictures of fighters and victims rises on them.

The cemetery has become a symbol of fighting ISIS organization in the war waged by Iraqi forces backing by Shiite and Sunni factions against the militants, who controlled large areas of the territory of Iraq since last summer.

Initially , the sons of Dhuluiya town buried the bodies of their fighters who defended it against ISIS invasion last summer until the final breath in the cemetery before other fighters from Tikrit and al-Alam town were buried in it also.

Most of the victims in the cemetery are Sunni fighters from tribal members, but not devoid of Shiite fighters even women and children were killed by ISIS.

Zuhair al-Jubouri, who lives close to the cemetery and sometimes help visitors say that he sees dozens of Iraqis of Sunnis and Shiites come daily and even foreigners from outside the country to the cemetery.

He points out in his interview with Shafaq News that visitors come here to see the cemetery, which became a symbol of fighting ISIS and listen to the stories of fighters who were buried there.

According to al-Jubouri, most of those buried in the cemetery are of the population of Dhuluiya town, but the fighters who are being killed in Tikrit Front are being buried here as well.

Adel Hamid, one of the residents of Dhuluiya said that "the cemetery is teeming with visitors because it tells the story of the struggle that was the most prominent and the first at the level of resistance against ISIS.

He points out that what it was prevalent that Sunnis support ISIS but the sons of Dhuluiya changed this concept and the cemetery id the best proof of that.

After ISIS controlled over the region , graves in Salahuddin increased embraces the bodies of people, some known and others with unknown identity, especially in Tikrit, which was the scene of the execution of 1,700 students and soldiers from Speicher Camp by ISIS and buried in mass graves.

After the liberation of Tikrit, the beginning of last month, mass graves began to clarify one after the other in the center of the city and its outskirts.

The authorities intend to pay attention to "protectors of home" or (Humat al-Diyar) cemetery and turn it into a popular shrine later.

The mayor of Dhuluiya Council , Khalaf Turki told “Shafaq News " that “ we seek to put a monument in the cemetery of victims of Dhuluiya known as the protectors of home and make them similar to those found in Al-Shaheed Monument in Baghdad."

He added, " Not only the tombs of Dhuluiya , We look forward to convert all the tombs of the martyrs in Salahuddin to headstones and we are waiting for the allocation of a budget for it."