Iraqi militiamen drop guns to dig graves for coronavirus victims

City of Najaf is home to Iraq’s only graveyard specifically for those who have died of Covid-19

Members of the Popular Mobilization Forces, and Shiite students of Al Hawza Al Ilmiyya, who volunteered to work at the cemetery, wear protective suits as they pose for a group photo at the new Wadi Al Salam cemetery dedicated to those who died of coronavirus disease, on the outskirts of the holy city of Najaf. REUTERS

Abdelhussan Kadhim, from the PMF, who volunteered to work in the cemetery, wearing a protective suit, reads a verse from the Koran near the coffin of a man who passed away due to coronavirus, during his burial at the new Wadi Al Salam cemetery, which is dedicated to those who died of COVID-19, on the outskirts of the holy city of Najaf. REUTERS

A member of the PMF, who volunteered to work in a cemetery, wears a protective suit, as he burns clothes they used for burial. REUTERS

A member of the PMF, who volunteered to work in the cemetery, wears a protective suit as he hangs masks and gloves to dry them after sterilization at the new Wadi Al Salam cemetery for those who died of Covid-19). REUTERS

Members of the PMF, who volunteered to work at the cemetery, wear protective suits as they bury the coffin of a man who passed away due to coronavirus disease. REUTERS

Abdelhussan Kadhim, from the PMF, who volunteered to work in the cemetery, wearing a protective suit, takes a rest at the new Wadi Al Salam cemetery, which is dedicated to those who died of the coronavirus disease. REUTERS

Abdelhussan Kadhim, from the PMF, who volunteered to work in the cemetery, wears his protective suit, at new Wadi Al Salam cemetery, which is dedicated to those who died of the coronavirus disease. REUTERS

Abdelhussan Kadhim, from the PMF, who volunteered to work in the cemetery, gets help from his fellow to put on his protective mask. REUTERS

Abdelhussan Kadhim from the PMF, who volunteered to work at the cemetery, wears a protective suit as he is disinfected after the burial of a man who passed away due to coronavirus. REUTERS

Abdelhussan Kadhim from the PMF, who volunteered to work at the cemetery, wears a protective suit as he stands next to fellow volunteers as they take a rest at the new Wadi Al Salam cemetery. REUTERS

Abdelhussan Kadhim, from the PMF, who volunteered to work in the cemetery, wearing a protective suit and poses for the camera at the new Wadi Al Salam cemetery for those who died of the coronavirus. Reuters

Members of the PMF, who volunteered to work in the cemetery, wearing a protective suit as he checks a grave before burial at new Wadi Al Salam cemetery. REUTERS

Iraqi paramedic Sarmad Ibrahim cut his teeth treating fellow militiamen in the war against ISIS.

Now he buries Covid-19 victims, an exhausting task where he must also come to grips with Muslim and Christian burial rites.

“So far we’re coping,” Mr Ibrahim said as fellow volunteers from the Imam Ali Combat Brigade prepared to handle a coffin from Baghdad.

“But if we start receiving more bodies we might not be able to bury according to religious rules.”

He and the other team members work at a new cemetery in the southern city of Najaf, Iraq’s only graveyard specifically for those who have died of Covid-19.

Established after an edict from Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali Al Sistani, it is dwarfed by the nearby Wadi Al Salam cemetery, the largest in the world, but is expanding.

More than 200 people have died since the outbreak began in Iraq in February and the volunteers say they receive between two and four corpses each day.

Coronavirus in the Middle East 

The country’s confirmed coronavirus infections have jumped from about 3,000 to more than 6,000 in just over two weeks, Health Ministry figures show.

Mr Ibrahim and his comrades joined the brigade as part of Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces paramilitary umbrella group to fight ISIS several years ago.

While this enemy is very different, the work is physically and emotionally draining.

Bodies often arrive at night. The volunteers, in full protective suits, wash and wrap the corpses in black burial shrouds before putting them back in the coffins.

They carry the coffins to the graves under the headlights of their vehicles.

The team has struggled to expand beyond its dozen or so members.

Some medics say suspected exposure to the virus has alienated them from their families and neighbours, and for these volunteers it is no different, even though there is no evidence that Covid-19 can be caught from corpses.

“If we face a shortage of men, I’ll have to ask friends or other fighters to come and help us," said "Abu Sajad", 46, another militiaman.

"I’m afraid that if someone catches the virus, relatives will blame me for it."

Abu Sajad had not told his family that he was working in the cemetery and said the friends who knew were reluctant to meet him.

Some tribes and local religious leaders have refused to bury victims of the virus in local cemeteries, which is why the new graveyard was set up.

“In the beginning, bodies were brought back to the morgue where they stayed for up to 15 days,” said Abdul Hassan Kadhim, who leads the burial volunteer team.

“They ended up being buried without proper religious rites.”

At this cemetery the team must respect those rites.

Relatives are allowed to watch from a distance and a student from a local seminary leads prayers around each Muslim grave. Two Christians were recently buried there as well.

“We know they’d prefer to be buried in their own graveyards but because of the pandemic, they now rest here,” Abu Sajad said, kneeling in front of one of the Christian graves.

“We asked for advice on Christian burials, to be able to carry them out according to their own rituals and traditions.

"I didn’t know about them before but we did everything the way our Christian brothers told us.”