Witness to ISIL’s Destruction Tells His Story to Alhurra-Iraq TV
In an exclusive interview with Alurra-Iraq TV, Abou Mohammad, who fled from Mosul to Baghdad to escape the violence brought on by ISIL, discussed the daily suffering of people in Mosul living under the extremists group’s control. He told Alhurra-Iraq that elementary schools in Mosul were serving as a hunting grounds for terrorists to take young girls and force them to marry, so he had to forbid his two daughters (ages 8 and 10) from going to school in order to protect them.
Mohammad said he witnessed horrific violence as ISIL tortured and killed a retired colonel. He described the scene, saying that the terrorists shaved the man’s head, mustache and eyebrows, and dragged him through the streets in the city market until they reached Qassem al-Khayat square where they executed him.
Women, he said, were especially abused, treated like prisoners and forced to wear the niqab, a headscarf with veil. A woman who was also interviewed for this report and wished to remain anonymous, stated that she witnessed women being beaten for not wearing the niqab. Wearing the coverings didn’t always protect women, she added, saying that even the women that do wear it are not free from the thrashings. Members of ISIL will attack and hit a woman’s hands if they are not covered with gloves. She said ISIL ordered shop owners not to allow women into their stores who are not completely covered.