The National Liberation Army liberated Kerend around 7 pm, on Monday, July 25. It was enthusiastically welcomed by the local populace. As the NLA advanced toward Kerend, many servicemen joined with all their weapons and equipment. The safety and security of all servicemen who remained neutral and refrained from any hostile acts against the NLA were guaranteed, and they were allowed to depart for any destination they desired.
Meanwhile, learning that a wave of soldiers and officers had retreated or joined the NLA, Guards Corps commanders clashed with regular military forces at Kerend's central square and opened fire on them. The NLA subsequently arrived and intervened, routing the Guards, including the GC 127th Meqdad brigade from Bakhtaran's 4th corps, who were forced to flee. The statements of Khomeini's Chief Justice, Moussavi-Ardebili, at the August 5 Friday prayer referred to such scenes: "When a brigade commander sees his units want to retreat... he lays down in front of the jeeps and tanks and says, `You'll retreat over my dead body."'
Deserting or retreating servicemen were not the only victims of atrocities by Khomeini's Guards. They included ordinary people travelling on the road. On the Kerend Islamabad road, for example, NLA combatants found a car bound for Islamabad whose passengers - a family with three children - had been massacred. Only the grandfather survived to recount the Guards' savage murder.
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