Tal Afar resident rebuilds priceless artifact collection lost during ISIS occupation

TAL AFAR — After returning from a four-year displacement in Karbala, following the Islamic State’s control of his hometown of Tal Afar, Haj Fadel Yassin Kanno, in his 70s, discovered that all the ancient artifacts he had preserved in his home were gone. Determined to rebuild his collection, Kanno has been gathering century-old items, such as tools for making dairy products, cooking utensils, and gemstone prayer beads.

Kanno, who spent much of his life working in construction and concrete casting, has since retired. Despite a difficult past filled with hard labor, he now devotes his time to preserving precious artifacts that fill the walls and shelves of his home in the Kifah neighborhood of Tal Afar.

“Before the events of 2014, I had many items, but they were lost when ISIS invaded Tal Afar,” Kanno told 964media. “When I returned to my home, nothing was left.”

From 2014 to 2018, Kanno and his family were displaced to Karbala. Upon returning to Tal Afar, he began the painstaking task of rebuilding his collection. “I have friends and acquaintances who call me whenever they find any of these treasures. I go to them to buy them, and most of these items I’ve purchased myself,” he said.

Kanno’s collection includes items that are at least 80 years old, with some dating back over 100 or even 150 years. Among the artifacts are tools used for dairy production and cooking. He also owns a collection of valuable prayer beads, some costing between 250,000 ($166) and 1,000,000 Iraqi dinars ($666).

“I clean and arrange them from time to time. This has been a long-time hobby of mine,” he said, pointing to the antique items that now fill his room.

Tal Afar, a predominantly Shia Turkmen city, was a key target of ISIS atrocities following the group’s 2014 capture of the region. After ISIS took control of Tal Afar, more than 1,200 residents were kidnapped, including 120 children and 460 women and girls. The fate of many of these individuals remains unknown, with only 54 rescued from various locations in Iraq and Syria over the years.

ISIS, which declared a caliphate in 2014 after capturing large areas of Iraq and Syria, was officially driven out of Iraq in 2017 by Iraqi forces and Peshmerga fighters, with support from a U.S.-led coalition. The group also lost its last stronghold in Syria in 2019 to U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, though remnants continue to pose a threat to the region.