What is Islamic State?

Continue reading the main story

Islamic State

Sex-slavery trauma

Rare visit reveals 'brutal' IS

How extremist groups raise money

Mosul diaries: Poisoned by water

Islamic State (IS) is a radical Islamist group that has seized large swathes
of territory in eastern Syria and across northern and western Iraq.
Its brutal tactics - including mass killings and abductions of members of religious
and ethnic minorities, as well as the beheadings of soldiers and journalists - have
sparked fear and outrage across the world and prompted US military
intervention.

What does IS want?

In 60 seconds: What does Islamic State want?

The group aims to establish a "caliphate", a state ruled by a single political and
religious leader according to Islamic law, or Sharia.

Although currently limited to Iraq and Syria, IS has promised to "break the
borders" of Jordan and Lebanon and to "free Palestine". It attracts support from
Muslims across the world and demands that all swear allegiance to its leader Ibrahim Awad Ibrahim Ali al-Badri al-Samarrai, better known as Abu Bakr alBaghdadi.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Islamic State's driving force
Isis: A thoroughly modern caliphate

What are its origins?

IS can trace its roots back to the late Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who set
up Tawhid wa al-Jihad in 2002. A year after the US-led invasion of Iraq, Zarqawi
pledged allegiance to Osama Bin Laden and formed al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI),
which became a major force in the insurgency.

The tactics of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were considered too extreme by al-Qaeda leaders

After Zarqawi's death in 2006, AQI created an umbrella organisation, Islamic

State in Iraq (ISI). ISI was steadily weakened by the US troop surge and the
creation of Sahwa (Awakening) councils by Sunni Arab tribesmen who rejected
its brutality. After becoming leader in 2010, Baghdadi rebuilt ISI's capabilities. By
2013, it was once again carrying out dozens of attacks a month in Iraq. It had
also joined the rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, setting up
the al-Nusra Front.
In April 2013, Baghdadi announced the merger of his forces in Iraq and Syria and
the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isis). The leaders of alNusra and al-Qaeda rejected the move, but fighters loyal to Baghdadi split from
al-Nusra and helped Isis remain in Syria.

Religious minorities, particularly Iraq's Yazidis, have been targeted by Islamic State

At the end of December 2013, Isis shifted its focus back to Iraq and exploited a
political stand-off between the Shia-led government and the minority Sunni Arab
community. Aided by tribesmen, the group took control of the central city of
Falluja.
In June 2014, Isis overran the northern city of Mosul, and then advanced
southwards towards Baghdad. At the end of the month, after consolidating its
hold over dozens of cities and towns, Isis declared the creation of a caliphate and
changed its name to Islamic State.
The rise of Islamic State
While Iraq burns, Isis takes advantage in Syria
Timeline: How the Syria conflict has spread

Civilian deaths in Iraq 2006-2014

How much territory does IS control?

Some Sunni Arabs showed their support for Islamic State after the group overran Mosul

Some estimate that IS and its allies control about 40,000 sq km (15,000 sq miles)
of Iraq and Syria - roughly the size of Belgium. Others believe they control closer
to 90,000 sq km (35,000 sq miles) - about the size of Jordan. That territory
includes cities - Mosul, Tikrit, Falluja and Tal Afar in Iraq; Raqqa in Syria - oil
fields, dams, main roads and border crossings.
Eight million people are believed to be living under partial or full IS control, where
the group implements a strict interpretation of Sharia, forcing women to wear
veils, non-Muslims to pay a special tax or convert, and imposing punishments
that include floggings and executions.
Struggle for Iraq: In maps
Inside Syrian city run by IS

How many fighters does it have?

Thousands of foreigners have fought for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq

US officials believe IS could have as many as 31,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria.
Iraq expert Hisham al-Hashimi says about 30% are "ideologues", with the
remainder joining out of fear or coercion.
A significant number of IS fighters are neither Iraqi nor Syrian. The Soufan Group
recently estimated that more than 12,000 foreign nationals from at least 81
countries, including 2,500 from Western states, had travelled to Syria to fight
over the past three years.

What weapons does IS have?

Islamic State has become one of the most formidable jihadist groups in the world

IS fighters have access to, and are capable of using, a wide variety of small arms
and heavy weapons, including truck-mounted machine-guns, rocket launchers,
anti-aircraft guns and portable surface-to-air missile systems. They have also
captured tanks and armoured vehicles from the Syrian and Iraqi armies. Their
haul of vehicles from the Iraqi army includes Humvees and bomb-proof trucks
that were originally manufactured for the US military.
The group is believed to have a flexible supply chain that ensures a constant
supply of ammunition and small arms for its fighters. Their considerable firepower
helped them overrun Kurdish Peshmerga positions in northern Iraq in August,
surprising many.

Where does IS get its money from?

In areas under its control, Islamic State controls trade and collects taxes and fees

Islamic State is reported to have $2bn (1.2bn) in cash and assets, making it the
world's wealthiest militant group. Initially, much of its financial support came from
individuals in Arab Gulf states. Today, IS is a largely self-financed organisation,
earning millions of dollars a month from the oil and gas fields it controls, as well
as from taxation, tolls, smuggling, extortion and kidnapping. The offensive in Iraq
has also been lucrative, giving it access to cash held in major banks in cities and
towns it has seized.
Islamic State: Who supports the jihadist group?

Why are their tactics so brutal?

Videos and photographs of beheadings have helped persuade thousands of soldiers to abandon their
posts

IS members are jihadists who adhere to an extreme interpretation of Sunni Islam

and consider themselves the only true believers. They hold that the rest of the
world is made up of unbelievers who seek to destroy Islam, justifying attacks
against other Muslims and non-Muslims alike.
Beheadings, crucifixions and mass shootings have been used to terrorise their
enemies. IS members have justified such atrocities by citing the Koranic verses
that talk of "striking off the heads" of unbelievers, but Muslims have denounced
them. Even al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, who disavowed IS in February
over its actions in Syria, warned Zarqawi in 2005 that such brutality loses
"Muslim hearts and minds".

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Islamic State's

driving force
By Aaron Y ZelinWashington Institute for Near East Policy

Continue reading the main story

Islamic State

Sex-slavery trauma

Rare visit reveals 'brutal' IS

How extremist groups raise money

Mosul diaries: Poisoned by water

On 5 July, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, known by his supporters as Caliph

Ibrahim, left the shadows and showed his face for the first time, in a Friday
sermon in Mosul, Iraq.
While previous pictures of him had been leaked, Baghdadi had not shown
himself in the four years since he became leader of what was then the jihadist
Islamic State of Iraq (forerunner of Isis, then the Islamic State).
Before April 2013, Baghdadi also did not release many audio messages.
His first written statement was a eulogy to Osama Bin Laden in May 2011.
His first audio message was released in July 2012 and predicted future victories
for the Islamic State.

Since the group's resurgence, which began 15 months ago, Baghdadi's media
output has risen. The amount of specific information about his background has
also increased.

'Descendant of the Prophet'

In July 2013, a Bahraini ideologue Turki al-Binali, writing under the pen name
Abu Humam Bakr bin Abd al-Aziz al-Athari, wrote a biography of Baghdadi.

Prior to his appearance in Mosul, there were only two known photographs of Baghdadi

It highlighted Baghdadi's family history which claims that Baghdadi was indeed a
descendant of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad's Quraysh tribe - one of the key
qualifications in Islamic history for becoming the caliph (historically, leader of all
Muslims).
It said that Baghdadi came from the al-Bu Badri tribe, which is primarily based in
Samarra and Diyala, north and east of Baghdad respectively, and known
historically for being descendants of Muhammad.
Turki al-Binali's tract continued by highlighting that prior to the US invasion of Iraq
in 2003, Baghdadi received his PhD from the Islamic University of Baghdad, with
a focus on Islamic culture, history, sharia, and jurisprudence.
Baghdadi preached at the Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal Mosque in Samarra.

Baghdadi does not have credentials from esteemed Sunni religious

establishments such as al-Azhar University in Cairo or the Islamic University of
Medina in Saudi Arabia.
Nonetheless, he is more steeped in traditional Islamic education than either alQaeda's past and current leaders, Osama Bin Laden and Aymen al-Zawahiri,
both laymen and an engineer and doctor respectively.
This has conferred on Baghdadi a higher level of praise, worthiness, and
legitimacy among his supporters.

Rise to top
Following the US invasion of Iraq, Baghdadi, along with some associates,
created Jamaat Jaysh Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaah (JJASJ) - the Army of the
Sunni People Group - which operated in Samarra, Diyala, and Baghdad.

Within the group, Baghdadi was the head of the sharia committee. US-led
coalition forces detained him from February to December 2004, but released him
since he was not viewed as a high-level threat.
After al-Qaeda in the Land of Two Rivers (al-Qaeda in Iraq) changed its name to
Majlis Shura al-Mujahidin (Mujahideen Shura Council) in early 2006, JJASJ's
leadership pledged baya (oath of allegiance) to it and joined the umbrella
organisation.
Within the new structure, Baghdadi joined the sharia committees. But soon after
the organisation announced another change to its name in late 2006 to the
Islamic State of Iraq (ISI), Baghdadi became the general supervisor of the sharia
committees for the wilayats (provinces) within the new "state" as well as a
member of ISI's senior consultative council.
When ISI's leader Abu Umar al-Baghdadi died in April 2010, Abu Bakr alBaghdadi succeeded him.

Place in history?
Since taking over the leadership of the Islamic State, Baghdadi has rebuilt and
reinvigorated a battered organisation after the Sunni tribal sahwa (awakening)
against it, which was then consolidated by the US military surge.
Compared with the Islamic State's first attempt at governance last decade, thus
far, while still brutal, it is doing a better job, though questions still remain about its
longer-term sustainability.

Under Baghdadi, the Islamic State has become one of the most formidable jihadist groups in the world

Part of this is related to augmenting its cruel judicial punishments with a social
service regime to create more soft power, but also to have a carrot to its stick.
Likewise, as a lesson from the tribal awakening, the Islamic State over the past
couple of years has either assassinated key leaders within the sahwa movement
or brokered "repentances" from those that would like to join the organisation.
This, in ways, has helped blunt more of the potential for a large-scale uprising
similar to last decade, though there have been calls and rumours that some tribal
elements that have not "repented" will take on the Islamic State.
Moreover, if one looks at the locations that the Islamic State has targeted to take
over or currently controls, many are along both the Euphrates and Tigris rivers as
well as areas that have oil in both Iraq and Syria.
Baghdadi and the rest of the Islamic State leadership realise that if one has a
monopoly on the energy (whether for human consumption or electrically powered
devices) along with its growing military might, it is a lot easier to consolidate its
writ, even if parts of the population disagree with its ideological project.
While we may not know the future of the Islamic State, it is clear that Baghdadi
has steered the organisation back to prominence. In many ways, he has eclipsed
even the founder of the group Abu Musab al-Zarqawi last decade in prestige,
resources, and potential for the future.

His true significance will likely come more to light following his death, since, as
we have seen with al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri has had a difficult time replacing
Bin Laden.
For now, the Islamic State's "Caliph" is the new star of the ascendant "Caliphate
Project".

ISIS: Everything you need to know

about the rise of the militant group
By Nick Thompson, Richard Allen Greene and Inez Torre, CNN
Updated September 25, 2014

The rise of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Islamist militant group that has seized a chunk
of land stretching from northern Syria to central Iraq, has struck fear into the hearts of leaders
around the world. CNN explains ISIS roots, what it controls, and where its support comes from.
The group began in 2004 as al Qaeda in Iraq, before rebranding as ISIS two years later.
It was an ally of and had similarities with -- Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda: both were
radical anti-Western militant groups devoted to establishing an independent Islamic
state in the region. But ISIS unlike al Qaeda, which disowned the group in early 2014
has proven to be more brutal and more effective at controlling territory it has seized.
ISIS is putting governing structures in place to rule the territories the group conquers
once the dust settles on the battlefield. From the cabinet and the governors to the
financial and legislative bodies, ISIS' bureaucratic hierarchy looks a lot like those of
some of the Western countries whose values it rejects -- if you take away the democracy
and add in a council to consider who should be beheaded.

Oil and land: What ISIS controls

The group seized control of Mosul, Iraqs second-largest city, this summer. But its power
base is in Raqqa, eastern Syria, where ISIS is now in control of more than half of Syrias
oil assets -- along with a number of oil fields in Iraq -- according to energy expert Luay
al-Khateeb. Al-Khateeb says the oil is finding its way to the black market and could be
making ISIS up to $3 million each day.

Source: Institute for the Study of War, Petroleum Economist, Platts

More than 11,000 people have traveled from abroad to fight in Syria and Iraq, officials
suggest, although some have gone back home again. They align themselves with
different factions, and sometimes change loyalties as groups merge, disband or change
allegiances. Naturally, countries with bigger Muslim populations tend to send the largest
number of fighters.

But some nations with relatively small Muslim populations have sent a
disproportionately large number of jihadis. Finland, Ireland and Australia have the
highest number of foreign fighters per capita, although Finnish security officials say a
minority of Finns in their count went for humanitarian reasons.

AL-QAEDA'S BRUTAL TACTICS IN SYRIA FORCE

OUT MODERATES
By Lina SinjabBBC News, Gaziantep

Continue reading the main story

SYRIA'S

WAR

Guide to conflict

Civil war in numbers

Mapping war

IS rise

Watch

"I was handcuffed, blindfolded when I was taken to their base. Like the six
other detainees with me, we were whipped 70 times every day."
"We were mostly accused of setting up 'Sahwa' - Awakening Councils - against
the state."
Mohammed's horrific tale of torture from Syria might not sound that unusual if the
"state" his captors' were referring to was the government of President Bashar alAssad.
But they were from the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
(ISIS), an al-Qaeda affiliate that has become an equally feared force in rebel-held
areas.

'New dictatorship'

Mohammed, an engineer in his early 50s who is the father of four children, joined
the peaceful protest movement against Mr Assad when the uprising in Syria
began in 2011.
When Raqqa province fell under rebel control, he helped set up a local council to
provide basic services in the absence of the state.
ACTIVISTS WHO HAVE FLED RAQQA SPOKE TO BBC NEWSNIGHT EARLIER THIS MONTH

But little did they know that it would not take long for a new dictatorship to
replace the one from which they had freed themselves.
On 9 July 2013 - the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan Mohammed and six other members of the council in the border town of Tal Abyad
were detained by members of ISIS, who handcuffed and blindfolded them and
took them to the city of Raqqa.
Over the next 33 days, Mohammed was tortured on a daily basis by the jihadists.
But even after his release, Mohammed was not safe. He soon learned that his
life was at risk and so fled north by foot to Turkey.
He is now staying in Gaziantep, attempting to ensure safe passage for his wife
and children so that they can start a new life together, away from Syria.

'Kafir'
Sitting in a flat in the city that has become home to many other refugees,
Mohammed is filled with bitterness as he describes how he believes the
revolution in his country has been hijacked by extremist groups that do not
represent Syrians.
Continue reading the main story

"His shirt was so embedded in his flesh [from the flogging] that I had to push
my finger deep into the wounds to pull out the material
Mohammed

"They are mostly foreigners coming to impose their ideologies on us," he says in
a low, calm voice.

Mohammed is a non-practising Muslim who believes that Syria should continue

to be a secular state, and that religion is a private issue.
That stance, however, was enough to prompt ISIS to declare that he was a "kafir"
- a non-believer - who deserved to be punished.
The group has used such designations to force out moderates in areas under its
control, whether they are local councillors, opposition activists or even fellow
rebels.

'Shadow emirs'
But Mohammed says the jihadists' extremist ideology is not the only reason for
doing that. He claims they are working with the government to undermine the
rebellion.
"[In Raqqa], they have occupied the governor's house and other former Baath
Party buildings. But when the city comes under bombardment, only schools,
hospitals and residential areas are hit, and not any ISIS-occupied locations," he
says.

Mohammed said the

government targeted Raqqa's schools - not its ISIS bases

Mohammed says ISIS is led by a mixture of Syrian and foreign "emirs", and that
11 of the Syrians were detained at Saydnaya military prison in southern
Damascus before the uprising began in March 2011. They were released, along
with many other Islamists, the next month when President Assad issued a
general amnesty, he adds.

"The Syrians were practicing on us the same methods of torture they were
subjected to in prison," Mohammed says.
"But the power lay with the 'shadow' emirs - Iraqis and Tunisians, mainly. They
were the ones beheading people and imposing an extremist interpretation of
Islam that is not even accepted by religious people in Syria."
"They never pray nor fast, but they force us to do so and they claim they want an
Islamic state," he adds.

'Tortured to death'
Mohammed recalls how two brothers were detained by ISIS fighters in Raqqa
and then killed - one was tortured to death; the other shot in the head - simply
because they were members of President Assad's minority Alawite sect.
"They had been living in Raqqa for years and were part of the revolution," he
says. "When different [rebel] brigades captured the town, they obtained
documents from them to prove that they were not spies for the regime."

Raqqa was the first Syrian

city to be controlled entirely by rebel forces

"But those documents - including one from the [al-Qaeda affiliated] al-Nusra
Front - didn't protect them from ISIS."
Mohammed also says a heating oil merchant, Abu Wael, was tortured after
refusing to sell any at a discounted rate to members of ISIS. He apparently told
them that he had agreed a price with their emir, but they demanded it be halved.
One night, he was detained and then tortured for six consecutive days.

"His shirt was so embedded in his flesh [from the flogging] that I had to push my
finger deep into the wounds to pull out the material," Mohammed says.
"We managed to convince them later to transfer the remainder of his punishment
to us, and we received 70 lashes a day to save him from more torture."
A judge at a Sharia court later ruled that Abu Wael had been wrongly detained
and punished, and ordered his release. It is not known if he is still alive.
But Mohammed has not lost hope. Though he is trying to bring his family to
Gaziantep, he is determined to return to Syria eventually.
"I have faith in the people, who revolted against tyranny that lasted for 50 years,
to revolt against an al-Qaeda import that is not welcome in Syria.

ISLAMIC STATE: WHERE DOES JIHADIST GROUP

GET ITS SUPPORT?

Islamic State outperformed all other militant rebel groups in Syria and continues to claim ground

Continue reading the main story

ISLAMIC STATE

Sex-slavery trauma

Rare visit reveals 'brutal' IS

How extremist groups raise money

Mosul diaries: Poisoned by water

Many Gulf states have been accused of funding Islamic State (IS)
extremists in Iraq and Syria.
But as Michael Stephens, director of the Royal United Services Institute in
Qatar, explains, not all is clear-cut in war.
Much has been written about the support Islamic State (IS) has received from
donors and sympathisers, particularly in the wealthy Gulf States.
Indeed the accusation I hear most from those fighting IS in Iraq and Syria is that
Qatar, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are solely responsible for the group's existence.
But the truth is a little more complex and needs some exploring.
It is true that some wealthy individuals from the Gulf have funded extremist
groups in Syria, many taking bags of cash to Turkey and simply handing over
millions of dollars at a time.
This was an extremely common practice in 2012 and 2013 but has since
diminished and is at most only a tiny percentage of the total income that flows
into Islamic State coffers in 2014.
It is also true that Saudi Arabia and Qatar, believing that Syrian President Bashar
al-Assad would soon fall and that Sunni political Islam was a true vehicle for their
political goals, funded groups that had strongly Islamist credentials.
Liwa al-Tawhid, Ahrar al-Sham, Jaish al-Islam were just such groups, all holding
tenuous links to the "bad guy" of the time - the al-Nusra Front, al-Qaeda's wing in
Syria.

The new emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani with French President Francois Hollande

Saudi Arabia has been accused of funding Islamists under the banner of IS, an accusation it staunchly
denies

Gulf funds have flowed to opposition groups since the early days of the uprising against Bashar al-Assad

Qatar especially attracted criticism for its cloudy links to the group.
Turkey for its part operated a highly questionable policy of border enforcement in
which weapons and money flooded into Syria, with Qatari and Saudi backing.
All had thought that this would facilitate the end of Mr Assad's regime and the
reordering of Syria into a Sunni power, breaking Shia Iran's link to the
Mediterranean.
Continue reading the main story

Islamic State's goal of establishing an Islamic caliphate is certainly attractive

in some corners of Islamic thinking

Yet as IS began its seemingly unstoppable rise in 2013, these groups were either
swept away by it, or deciding it was better to join the winning team, simply
defected bringing their weapons and money with them.
Only al-Nusra has really held firm, managing a tenuous alliance with its more
radical cousin, but even so it is estimated that at least 3,000 fighters from alNusra swapped their allegiance during this time.

So has Qatar funded Islamic State? Directly, the answer is no. Indirectly, a
combination of shoddy policy and naivety has led to Qatar-funded weapons and
money making their way into the hands of IS.
Saudi Arabia likewise is innocent of a direct state policy to fund the group, but as
with Qatar its determination to remove Mr Assad has led to serious mistakes in
its choice of allies.
Both countries must undertake some soul searching at this point, although it is
doubtful that any such introspection will be admitted in public.

Light years ahead

But there are deeper issues here; religious ties and sympathy for a group that
both acts explicitly against Shia Iran's interests in the region and has the tacit
support of more people in the Gulf than many would care to admit.
The horrific acts committed by IS are difficult for anybody to support, but its goal
of establishing a caliphate is certainly attractive in some corners of Islamic
thought.

The goal of IS militants is to create an independent Islamic State stretching from Iraq across to the Levant

Many of those who supported the goal have already found their way to Syria and
have fought and died for Islamic State and other groups. Others express support
more passively and will continue to do so for many years.

The pull of IS, a group that has outperformed all others in combat and put into
place a slick media campaign in dozens of languages to attract young men and
women to its cause, has proven highly successful.
In every activity - from fighting, to organisation and hierarchy, to media
messaging - IS is light years ahead of the assorted motley crew of opposition
factions operating in the region.

'War economy'
Islamic State has put in place what appear to be the beginnings of quasi-state
structures - ministries, law courts and even a rudimentary taxation system, which
incidentally asks for far less than what was paid by citizens of Mr Assad's Syria.
IS has displayed a consistent pattern since it first began to take territory in early
2013.
Upon taking control of a town it quickly secures the water, flour and hydrocarbon
resources of the area, centralising distribution and thereby making the local
population dependent on it for survival.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is accused of doing business with Islamic State in Syria

Dependency and support are not the same thing, and it is impossible to quantify
how many of Islamic State's "citizens" are willing partners in its project or simply
acquiescing to its rule out of a need for stability or fear of punishment.

To understand how the Islamic State economy functions is to delve into a murky
world of middlemen and shady business dealings, in which "loyal ideologues" on
differing sides spot business opportunities and pounce upon them.
IS exports about 9,000 barrels of oil per day at prices ranging from about $25$45 (15-27).
Some of this goes to Kurdish middlemen up towards Turkey, some goes for
domestic IS consumption and some goes to the Assad regime, which in turn sells
weapons back to the group.
"It is a traditional war economy," notes Jamestown analyst Wladimir van
Wilgenburg.
Indeed, the dodgy dealings and strange alliances are beginning to look very
similar to events that occurred during the Lebanese civil war, when feuding war
lords would similarly fight and do business with each other.
The point is that Islamic State is essentially self-financing; it cannot be isolated
and cut off from the world because it is intimately tied into regional stability in a
way that benefits not only itself, but also the people it fights.
The larger question of course is whether such an integral pillar of the region
(albeit shockingly violent and extreme) can be defeated.
Without Western military intervention it is unlikely. Although Sunni tribes in Iraq
ponder their allegiances to the group, they do not have the firepower or finances
necessary to topple IS and neither does the Iraqi army nor its Syrian counterpart

ISLAMIC STATE: YAZIDI WOMEN TELL OF SEXSLAVERY TRAUMA

By Paul WoodBBC News, northern Iraq
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THE BBC'S PAUL WOOD AND CAMERAMAN FRED SCOTT WENT TO NORTHERN IRAQ TO MEET
WOMEN WHO HAVE ESCAPED ENSLAVEMENT
Continue reading the main story

ISLAMIC STATE

Rare visit reveals 'brutal' IS

How extremist groups raise money

Mosul diaries: Poisoned by water

Yazidis' tales of survival

The Yazidi religious minority community in Iraq says 3,500 of its women
and girls are still being held by the so-called Islamic State (IS), many being
used as sex slaves. A few have managed to escape and here tell their
harrowing stories.
One day in August, Hannan woke to find her family frantically packing. She was
taken aback: she had not realised the jihadists calling themselves "the Islamic
State" were so close.
Outside, the main street in her hometown of Sinjar was choked. Her family joined
other Yazidis "running and crying", bullets flying overhead, she says.
Rain drums on the tent as she tells me her story, nervously twisting her fingers.
"Hannan" is not her real name. None of the former captives I spoke to could bear
to be identified. Hannan is 18 and wants to be a nurse, a future almost snatched
away by IS.

Hannan was taken away from Sinjar by force, along with other girls and women

Hannan says the jihadists blocked Sinjar's roads with their pick-up trucks. She
was turned back to town, where women and girls were separated from everyone
else.
"There were 20 of them, with long beards and weapons. They said: 'You're
coming to Mosul.' We refused. They hit us and dragged us to their cars."
She was taken with other women to a sports hall. Then, after a couple of weeks,
to a wedding hall. In one place, there were 200 women and girls. These were
slave markets. IS fighters could come to take their pick.
"We didn't dare look at their faces. We were so afraid. One girl came back after
she had been used as a sex slave and told us everything. After that, IS did not
allow anyone else to return.
"They were shooting to scare us. They took whomever they wanted, by force. We
were crying the whole time. We wanted to kill ourselves but we couldn't find a
way."
One girl did manage to kill herself, Hannan tells me.
"She slashed her wrists. They didn't let us help her. They put us in a room and
shut the door. She died. They said: 'It doesn't matter, we'll just dump the body
somewhere.'"

Window of escape
There were foreign fighters, but many local Sunnis. Hannan recognised one man.
He had a mobile phone shop in Sinjar. He was the loudest in mocking the Yazidi
religion.
"They said: 'Yazidis are infidels. Now you will live as Muslims.' They took many
girls for sex. They told us: 'Forget the life you knew.'"
They were moved around a lot. At one point, they saw some of their menfolk,
from a distance. They had been made to shave their moustaches, which the
jihadists consider un-Islamic.
Continue reading the main story

We asked the IS fighters: 'Why are you doing this to us?' They just hit us with
sticks
HannanYazidi woman who escaped IS

"Our men were praying five times each day to try to save their families," she
explains. "IS told us: 'If you do not follow Islam, we will kill all of you.'"
The younger girls were the first to be taken, she says, often sent to the IS
"capital" - the Syrian city of Raqqa. Finally, it was her turn to go.
"They told us: 'We will take you to your families first. That's the last time you will
see them.'
"We were crying a lot, holding hands and crying. We asked the IS fighters: 'Why
are you doing this to us?' They just hit us with sticks."
They were not taken to see their families but to a house they assumed was a
staging post. Seven girls were put in a room. Some were taken out to be abused
and then returned. There were armed guards outside. It seemed hopeless.
But the room had a plastic window and one night they were able to force it open.
"We got out, one-by-one, from the window. I was the fifth. I was waiting outside
the window for my cousin. But I saw a light coming. I couldn't wait any longer. I
jumped over a wall. We ran - and kept running. We couldn't help the others."

Sold for pittance

In another tent I meet "Khama", who did end up in Raqqa. She did not escape
but was eventually freed when her family paid a ransom of $3,000 (1,920).
She is 30 years old and remembers the shock and shame of the day she was
sold as a servant; she remembers, too, how much was paid.

Many Yazidis forced to flee IS attacks are now living in camps for displaced people

"They put us up for sale. Many groups of fighters came to buy. We couldn't sleep
properly because new groups came at all hours," she says, almost whispering.
"Sometimes they brought girls back who had been beaten, injured. When they
recovered, they were sold again. Eventually, they took all the girls. The women
were left behind [and sold last].
"Whatever we did, crying, begging, it made no difference. An Islamic State sheikh
took the money. It wasn't much. A fighter showed us 15,000 Iraqi dinars [$13; 8]
and said: 'This is your price.'"
She and her cousin were bought by a jihadist with a Western passport.
He had five other Yazidi women and girls in his house. He was already married
and had his wife with him.

Nevertheless, he intended to forcibly marry two of the Yazidis, using the others,
like Khama, as servants.
Khama tells me his wife was not happy with the situation but could do little about
it. The man had other problems, too.
"His neighbour, a sheikh, came and told him: 'You can't keep all those girls. [IS
leader Abu Bakr al-] Baghdadi's orders are one per house.'"

A guide to slavery
It seems that IS has, indeed, given out orders on the proper use of women as
slaves.
The group's Department of Research and Fatwas (religious edicts) has issued a
pamphlet with the chillingly matter-of-fact title: "Questions and Answers on Taking
Captives and Slaves".

An IS pamphlet instructs fighters about sexual activity with female captives

The document appears to be genuine. It was posted on an jihadist web forum

and, apparently, given out after Friday prayers in Mosul.
Christians, Jews and Yazidi women can all be taken as slaves, it says. Women
can be bought, sold, and given as gifts; they can be disposed of as property if a
fighter dies.

The pamphlet's Q&A format includes the following:

Question: Is it allowed to have intercourse with a female captive immediately
after taking possession of her? Answer: If she is a virgin, her master can have
intercourse with her immediately after taking possession. But if she is not, you
must make sure she is not pregnant.
Question: Is it allowed to have intercourse with a female slave who has not
reached puberty? Answer: You may have intercourse with a female slave who
hasn't reached puberty if she is fit for intercourse. However, if she is not fit for
intercourse, it is enough to enjoy her without.
It is a depraved and depressing document, at odds with mainstream Islam,
though well-researched with Koranic verses and hadiths, or reports of what the
Prophet Muhammad said or approved.
One theory is that the pamphlet was actually issued to try to restrain the more
outlandish behaviour of IS fighters. It says, for instance that a man may not sleep
with his wife's slave, or with another man's slave; and that a man may own two
sisters but not sleep with them at the same time.

Victims mocked
The atmosphere among IS fighters was revealed by a now-notorious video which
appears to show a group of young men eagerly looking forward to their turn at
the slave market.
Like the pamphlet, the source of the video is an internet post, but it seems
genuine.

IS fighters appear to eagerly discuss obtaining female slaves in one video posted online

Bearded fighters sport ammunition vests over the short dishdashas, or robes, of
the pious. They are happy and excited. Here is a sample of their conversation:
"Today is the slave market, God willing."
"Each one takes his share."
"Where's my Yazidi girl?"
"You can sell your slave, or give her as a gift... You can do whatever
you want with your share."
"Whoever wants to sell, I can buy, my brothers."
"I will pay three banknotes."
"I will buy her for a pistol."
"It costs more for one with blue eyes."
"Check her teeth."
"Can one take two slave girls? Does that work?"

"Abu Fahd, your Yazidi is dead!" (Someone giggles)

'Plan of annihilation'
From the interviews we conducted in northern Iraq, it seems that if Yazidi women
converted, they might expect a forced marriage. If they did not convert, they
might end up being passed around a number of fighters.
"Janar", aged 20, tells me: "There was one 11-year-old girl. They beat her a lot.
They gave her to one fighter and then to another one from Mosul. We heard that
she killed herself later, in Mosul."

Two Yazidi sisters told how they refused to be separated

She sits cross-legged on a foam mattress on the tent floor, her 14-year-old sister
next to her. Other relatives, men and women, watch anxiously. "Nine of our family
are still there, three of them girls," says a brother.
Everyone is silent as Janar explains that she was able to shield her younger
sister from the worst abuse, at some cost to herself.
"They tried to separate us many times when we were in Mosul," she says, "We
refused, always."
Like Hannan, the young woman who wants to be a nurse, she recognised one of
the IS men.

"We knew the man who came to buy us," she says. "He was an odd-job man
[before the IS advance in August]. He came to our house many times. Now he is
an emir [leader].
"We asked him to keep us together and he agreed. He was not as bad as the
others, but still bad enough. I wish I could cut them all into pieces."
Continue reading the main story

The world has forgotten our women and girls... Where is the international
military operation to free them?
Khidher DomleYazidi activist

Khidher Domle, a Yazidi activist who introduced me to the women, accuses

Islamic State of a deliberate attempt to erase the Yazidis' culture, religion and
bloodline.
"This was planned from the start," he says, "It's their strategy."
The pattern was always the same, he goes on. The women were gathered in
large halls and distributed as the spoils of war.
Foreign fighters usually chose first, then the local leaders of IS.
"These [local Sunnis] are the worst. They are barbarians. They take two, three,
four, five women," Mr Domle says. "The world has forgotten our women and girls.
Where is the international military operation to free them?"

Mounting evidence
I was on Mount Sinjar in August when I first heard about women and girls being
taken. I did not know whether to believe what was being said. It sounded like the
mix of hysteria and propaganda. But since then the evidence has piled up.
A report by Amnesty International, to be published on Tuesday, has more
harrowing testimony, from dozens of women.
There are occasional glimpses of humanity. A fighter's wife was "like a mother" to
a captured Yazidi girl; one jihadist felt sorry for a 13-year-old girl and her toddler
sister, buying them to set them free. These, though, were rare exceptions.

IS itself has not tried to hide what it has done. As well as the pamphlet and the
video, its official publication, Daqib, records what happened:
"After capture, the Yazidi women and children were then divided according to
Sharia [Islamic law] amongst the fighters of Islamic State who participated in the
Sinjar operations
"Before Satan sows doubt among the weak-minded and weak-hearted,
remember that enslaving the kuffa [infidels] and taking their women as
concubines is a firmly-established aspect of Sharia."
The figure of 3,500 women and girls still in captivity is not a rough estimate. A
Yazidi committee has names of all the missing. Of those who have returned,
some are pregnant.
The Yazidis are deeply conservative. They have faced an attempt to destroy
them as a people. Even after the credible reports of mass killings and forced

conversions, what happened to the women remains perhaps the most traumatic
event.
So far, a total of some 400 women and girls have managed to escape.
Occasionally, a woman still turns up at one of the camps in northern Iraq, terrified
and exhausted, a victim of slavery in the 21st Century.
People in the camps seem stunned, quiet. They wait for those left behind,
knowing there is little chance they will be rescued.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30573385