A Man Leaves A Name !!

A Man Leaves A Name !!

Short Story By Mohamed Yassin Hassan

The day has started with blessing wind and bright sunshine and gorgeous morning. The inhabitants were expecting a typical normal day but the area was a no man’s land. Skirmishes used to happen recently but yet face to face showdown was not expected. It was October 17, 1984 ‘the year of grace’, out of the blue the blessing wind changed into a hell on earth. Gun fire and the sound of explosives overwhelmed their ears. They believed they were all going to heaven unafraid to die but ready to sacrifice, a cause worth to die. He and his fighters were determined to help their people lift the humiliation and discrimination they endured for all most two decades. It was a time to show courage and braveness to wade into the enemy. He told his brave fighters to believe in Allah and remain their trenches. The few Mujahidin men were outnumbered and equipped poorly, few RBG’s and hand grenades, but the enemy was equipped latest modern state-of-the-art military equipment, tanks TR’s and more than hundred of infantry men.

Calasow and Dharaar, the enemy commanders believed victory was on their side. They miscalculated their military muscle. Colonel Dharaar, a tall man in his late fifties stood beside his Toyota Land cruiser smoking Somalia’s only manufactured cigar in the republic ‘Raygal’ while his assistant Qayaad was busy adjusting a radio fixed on the car. The sound of bullets made the colonel to feel as he was listening in fine reggae music. The fight continues and his assistant received seconds after the battle started, an emergency radio signal informing Calasow’s sudden death. Dharaar could not believe the bad news from the frontline battle. He threw out half used cigar on the ground. The Mujahidin overran his frontier men capturing some and killing many more.

Colonel Dharaar was promoted few days before the decisive battle and the fight was a test for his military competence. If he lost he would be punished even death by hanging, and victory only would save him. Reports of the war casualties from the radio increased minute by minute. Dharaar instantly knew his death is approaching if he could not change war tactics and as a last resort he requested use of tanks.

The mujahidin leader realized the risk of battling tanks in an open plain, and took a decisive action, dividing his brave men into different positions. The fight heated up with no sign of end and the sun got hotter and hotter. The Mujahidin were shouting “Allahu Akbar” and sung “ Gumuc iyo rasaas, gantaalaha ridada dheer, haddii galab la isku weeraray”. Enemy forces were confused by the noise and assumed reinforcements arrived to their opponents.

Colonel Dharaar lost words when he got a call from the head quarter. He was asked to give a brief detail about the fight. Dharaar unable to express the situation on the ground opted to pass the microphone to his assistant, who he knew his eloquence and rhetoric “Taliye, hada waanu ku guulaysanay inaanu cagta marinayo afartiyoo qudhmista ahaayoo kaymaha ku meermeeri jiray” he switched the radio frequency to send similar message.The battle intensified and enemy men were falling on the ground unimaginably and the determined fearless Mujahidin were getting upper hand. Dharaar felt the smell of the imminent defeat but yet choose to ignore.

The situation got a bad taste, when ammunition supply of both sides ended giving room for the sword and the hands. The colonel and few lucky cowards fired last bullets drove fast and sped away leaving a light dust behind. But stray bullet hit the chest of the great fighter. He fell backward and hiccupped taking his last breath!

The collapsed hero was Mr. Lixle, who was commemorated his gallant battle today and as the saying goes “A man dies and leaves a name, a tiger dies and leaves a skin, but what hyena leaves when dies…….................................?