There might not be a whole heap to do in Kuwait City, but what there is to do is very
interesting, with most related to the First Gulf War, or the Kuwaiti invasion. Of 1990-
91. Case in point being Al-Qurain Museum in Kuwait City.
To read about Failaka Island click here.
Getting to the Al-Qurain Martyrs Museum?
Located in a residential part of Kuwait City known as Al-Quarian, the museum is
named after the region rather than the house itself.
Getting to the Al-Quarain Museum will ned you either having your own vehicle, or
renting a taxi/car for the day. Neither of these options are particularly cheap, although
gas in Kuwait certainly is.
For all intents there really is no public transport in Kuwait City.
Story behind the Al-Quarin Museum?
The story behind the museum is that when Iraq invaded this was one of the last resistance holdouts, something evident from the bullet holes and overall devastation of the building. Said resistance marked a stark contrast to the rest of the country,which fell extremely quickly to the invading Iraqi army.
The museum itself not only marks the vents of the war, but particularly those who perished in Al-Qurain, who along with other people that died in the invasion of Kuwait are now known as martyrs. Outside of the museum you are truck by how similar the architecture is, with the Amin difference being that this building, whilst preserved has obviously been through the wars.
There are also a few vehicles outside, either used by the Iraqis, or Kuwaitis that are
bullet ridden and again tell their own story. Inside you are told the story of the building and the tragic consequences for those of the resistance that held out here.
The Al-Quarin Story
When Iraq invaded Kuwait the country fell extremely quickly, with Saddam Hussein thinking that he could set up a puppet state, namely the Republic of Kuwait and that they would welcome his brand of Arab Socialism.
To read about the Republic of Kuwait click here.
In actual fact almost all parties even Republican ones stood against Iraq, resistance cells were formed and the puppet state was abandoned in favor of instead incorporating the country into Iraq – something that would eventually lead to the invasion of Iraq.
One such party that stood against Iraq was the Al-Mesilah Group, formed by 31 Kuwaiti patriots, who managed to stockpile weapons both from local sources and even by buying them off of poor and demoralized Iraqi soldiers, soldiers who had not long finished fighting in the Iran – Iraq War.
The group were initially a successful guerrilla group bombing Iraqi positions and taking out various soldiers via their snipers before moving to the Al-Quarin part of Kuwait City. The reasoning for this being that at the time at least it was not heavily
patrolled by Iraqi forces.
The storming of Al-Quarin
After the Us announced it would “liberate” Iraq a new importance was put on stopping any local residence, to 5th column when the coalition troops came. This led to an Iraqi contingent approaching the house on February 24th 1991 after a suspected tip-off. After receiving no reply after knocking on the door an Iraqi troop jumped the fence to check things out.
To read if the US caused the invasion of Kuwait click here.
The solider was shot and the Al-Mesilah Group even managed to force the Iraqis to retort temporarily, but he compound was eventually surrounded and all inhabitants were killed. Following the liberation of Kuwait it was renovated as to be safe and turned into the Al-Quarin Museum, not only one of the most interesting sites in Kuwait City, but testament to how feelings still run deep about the Iraqi occupation f the State of Kuwait. Want to see the Al-Quarin museum?
Join our next Kuwait Tour.
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