Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, has been largely cut off from the rest of the world since the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) captured it in June 2014. But there are some citizens who have managed to reveal the terrible conditions they suffer under the vicious radical Islamic group.
Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported one incident that one man, who hides “in deep secret,” described on his blog:
The man shaved his beard and then stood in the street smoking a cigarette in broad daylight – two major offenses in the so-called caliphate of the Islamic terror group ISIS.
Before too long, the group’s religious police, the Hisba, came and put the man in their car and drove away. In the car, the man pulled out a weapon and killed them all. He then escaped in the car of a friend that had escorted him on his mission.
Other stories of resistance have surfaced as Mosul residents escape to Kurdistan. One report alleged “that five members of the all-female Khansa Brigade were gunned down outside their main office.” This group monitors female behavior within the ISIS caliphate and inflicts brutal punishment if they discover a violation.
On Tuesday, Mosul Saeed Mamouzini, a member of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, announced that unknown “snipers targeted ISIS elements” and killed ten terrorists.
“Mosul has witnessed during the last period several killing operations by armed battalions that targeted ISIS elements in the city,” he said.
Unfortunately, though, those who remain “feel abandoned” and “no longer believe” anyone will liberate them from ISIS. Feelings towards Baghdad soured after the capital “cut wages for civil servants in Mosul province.” The officials wanted to stop funds from reaching ISIS, since the group demanded a percentage from the workers.
To make matters worse, Baghdad turned away the majority of Muslims from Mosul seeking to attend the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. They only allowed those over 60 to travel to Saudi Arabia.
Rudaw also reports that “ISIS executes people each week for non-Islamic behavior.” The latest video shows militants beheading ten Peshmerga soldiers only a few days after they received massive losses from Kurdish forces in Kirkuk. The outlet stated some of the prisoners were the same ones “captured in January.”
ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi allegedly moved his headquarters to Ramadi from Mosul after they captured the western Iraqi town in May.
“I can’t speak on behalf of any large troops taking part, but there have been promotions of existing experts who have been previously trained by the U.S. in terms of operating Apache helicopters and other equipment. Those are based close to Ramadi,” according to an unnamed Iraqi military source.
The U.S. sent 160 soldiers to Ramadi to take back the town in mid-September.
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