A student from Cheetham Hill will travel to ISIS-occupied cities in Iraq to film a documentary. Zain Ullah, a Law and Criminology student at Manchester Metropolitan University , is set to visit places in Iraq that were once occupied by or are still occupied by terrorist group ISIS.
He is making a documentary about life after the Second Persian Gulf war, nearly 11 years on since the end of the war.
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Lasting from 2003 to 2011, The Second Persian Gulf War, also known as the Iraq War, was a largely U.S.-British invasion of Iraq, on the pretext that dictator Saddam Hussein was building weapons of mass destruction.
Troops managed to topple Saddam Hussein's regime and an end to the war was declared by the U.S. in December 2011.
On his trip to Iraq, Zain will be talking to residents who have lived through the invasion about how it has impacted their quality of life. He is set to visit Baghdad and Tikrit, which is the former capital of ISIS. Zain, 20, told the M.E.N: "I am hoping to go to Iraq at the end of July. My documentary will examine the invasion of Iraq and how people coped with it.
"I will be visiting communities and asking local people to share their personal accounts and their lasting memories under the regime. Some of the cities that I will be visiting are still occupied by ISIS, whilst other cities are no longer occupied by them.
"I want to highlight the violence committed against the Shia Muslims in Iraq and the brutal rise of ISIS, as well as the U.S. withdrawal, and how it still affects residents today. I will visit key places such as the Republican Palace and Firdos Square, where the American army invaded and took down a statue of Saddam Hussein."
Zain became interested in researching the war in Iraq after witnessing different opinions people had about it among his community at university.
He continued: "People have different opinions about the invasion- some think it was a mistake, while others I have spoken to have said it was the right decision. So that's how I got the idea of doing a documentary, because I want to find out what life is like for people in war-torn countries."
Zain said that his personal safety was the first thing he considered when planning this trip to Iraq.
He continued: "I have been in contact with a tour guide in Iraq, who has reassured me that it is safe to visit the country. There are lots of people going there for religious reasons and camera crews are there right now.
For his documentary, Zain will be interviewing the son of a former chief minister, who was a member of ex-Prime Minister Saddam Hussein’s inner circle. He will also be interviewing British politicians to find out what they think about the Iraq invasion.
Zain's documentary is called "Life after War: Iraq". He is hoping to release the documentary by the end of the year.
The trailer for Zain's documentary has been viewed over 30,000 times, having seen a boost after actors from Coronation Street and ITV shared it online.
The trailer for Zain's documentary can be viewed on Instagram here. To find out more about Zain's documentary, follow him on Instagram here.
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