Soldier in famous October war photo dies

CAIRO – 25 May 2019: Former Egyptian veteran soldier, who appeared in a famous photo taken during the 6th of October war in 1973 when he was raising his weapon in a sign of victory, died in his 70s on Friday.

Abdel Rahman al-Qady, was a soldier in the Infantry Unit of the Battalion No. 212 during the Six-Day War. When Egyptian troops destroyed Bar Lev Line, which was built by Israeli troops along the eastern bank of Suez Canal, al-Qady was pictured while he was lifting his weapon celebrating the destruction of the line.

Al-Qady joined the Egyptian Army’s Armed Corps on October 4, 1967, immediately after being graduated from Faculty of Education, he said in a previous interview with Group 73 Historians website.

His military service ended in May 1974 and then worked as a teacher in his hometown Al Maraghah city of Sohag governorate, Upper Egypt. He was a father of four daughters and a son.

In his honor, a big square in Sohag governorate was named after Abdel Rahman al-Qady. Also, Sohag University has named the university playground complex after him.
During the Six-Day War in 1967, Israeli troops captured the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, Old City of Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. Six years later, Egyptian forces launched its war against the Israeli troops, which were forced to retreat 15 kilometers eastern the Suez Canal, on October 6, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. (Cairo time); meanwhile, Syrian troops waged the war near Golan Heights against the Israeli troops.

The Sinai Peninsula was liberated from Israeli occupation following the Egypt-Israel peace treaty signed in Washington in 1979.