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2021-08-16 Syria-Lebanon-Iran
ISIS crimes still in mind of Syria's Manbij residents after years of expulsion
[NPASYRIA] Five years after the expulsion of ISIS from the city of Manbij, north Syria, Mustafa al-Hameidi recalls scenes of beheading in full view of all and a way of living and thinking "similar to the pre-Islamic era," as he described it, during ISIS’s control of his city.

On August 15, the Manbij Military Council, supported by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the US-led Global Coalition’s air coverage, managed to expel ISIS from the city of Manbij after more than two-month battles.

"During the control of ISIS, we were living in a way similar to the pre-Islamic era in terms of clothes, the way of thinking and living," al-Hameidi said.

He did not adapt to this situation, so he was imprisoned several times on various charges such as smoking, being late for prayer, failure to wear short clothes or shave the head.

When ISIS controlled the city, it imposed strict laws restricting basic personal freedoms. It specified a special dress for women and prohibited smoking, hookah, mobile phones, and all intellectual and cultural activities.

Al-Hameidi was forced to accept all laws imposed on residents and implement them to avoid imprisonment every time.

"A scene keeps haunting me. It was when I saw a gathering in the market and went to find out what was happening. I was shocked and felt as the life has stopped when I saw a member of ISIS beheading a civilian in his twentieth for blasphemy
...the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. Some religions consider it to be a crime. In Pakistain you can commit blasphemy by looking cross-eyed at a Koran...
," he added.

"Life does not matter to me anymore after this scene. I was afraid to go to the market due to the barbarian scenes I used to see each time I went there," he stated.

"The one who lived in Manbij during that time is still haunted by nightmares he cannot escape," he referred.

Al-Hameidi never imagined that ISIS may get out of the city especially after it controlled wide areas of Syria and Iraq amid no objection of any of the countries calling for "fighting terrorism and liberating the people."

"ISIS entered Manbij through the Ottoman Turkish-controlled city of Jarablus and extended to other regions they used to control at the time," al-Hameidi pointed out.
Posted by Fred 2021-08-16 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views ]  Top
 File under: Islamic State 










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