Enemies and Angels: Opposing Soldiers Who Saved Each Other

CBC Radio | Posted: November 11, 2016 1:26 PM | Last Updated: November 11, 2016

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Caption: Wounded during the Iran-Iraq war, Najah Aboud (L) crawled into a bunker to die. The Iraqi soldier was found by Iranian medic, Zahed Haftlang (R) who saved him. Two decades later, they would be reunited by total chance halfway on the other side of the world. (Greg Kelly/CBC)

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When Najah Aboud got wounded during the Iran-Iraq war, he crawled into a bunker to die. It was there that the Iraqi soldier was found by Iranian medic, Zahed Haftlang. Zahed made a split-second decision: to save his enemy's life. So he risked his own — twice — to get Najah to a field hospital.

Neither man knew that nearly twenty years later, and on the other side of the world, a breathtaking coincidence would reunite them in another life-saving encounter.

**This episode originally aired on December 23, 2014.

Media Audio | Ideas : How a photo saved a life

Caption: Zahed Haftlang was an Iranian soldier clearing a bunker in the Iran-Iraq war when he came across a gravely wounded Iraqi, Najah Aboud. This excerpt is the moment Zahed decided to risk everything and save his enemy's life

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This story first came to our attention in an article titled Blood Brothers published in Vancouver Magazine written by Vancouver journalist, Timothy Taylor.

For more on the story of Zahed and Najah, including videos and photos, go to the Maclean`s article His Brother's Keeper

**This episode was produced by Greg Kelly

Watch the trailer for the award-winning short documentary My Enemy, My Brother by Canadian filmmaker Ann Shin

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Watch the full documentary:

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Enemies and Angels: Opposing Soldiers Who Saved Each Other

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