After they started to be driven out of Manbij and its surroundings, ISIS gangs have increased their pressure and cruelty against the people in towns and cities they have invaded.

Women escaping Tıl Eran and Tıl Hasıl regions under ISIS occupation to seek refuge in the free zones in Manbij talked to the ANF about the gangs’ cruelty and their experiences.

42 year old mother of 4 from Tıl Eran, Rabia Mihemmed Hesen said ISIS gangs increased their pressure on the people following the Manbij liberation operation launched on June 1 by the Manbij Military Council and that they went through very hard days under ISIS occupation.

Rabia Mihemmed Hesen said they were subjected to inhuman practices by the gangs, they had no rights under the ISIS occupation and they had to obey the rules defined by the gangs. She stressed that those who didn’t comply with the rules set by the gangs were put through all sorts of torture and even publicly beheaded.

Rabia Mihemmed Hesen said “They forced women to wear the niqab and they didn’t allow us outside”, and that her husband was also punished by the gangs for smoking. She said when the gangs caught people smoking, they made them dig ditches, put them in jail and made them go through an “education” they called “sharia term” that lasted for 2 to 4 months.

Rabia Mihemmed Hesen concluded her words by saying she was happy to be in the zone liberated by the Manbij Military Council and called on the SDF forces to clear the Shehba region, too, of ISIS gangs.

40 year old mother of 5 from Tıl Hasıl, Fatime Hisên Elî is also among those who took refuge in the free zones with her family.

Fatime Hisên Elî said they fled from home because of the barbaric gangs and that they were under direct threat of death in their ISIS-invaded village, as the gang members tortured the villagers almost every day and raped women for not wearing the black dresses.

Fatime Hisên Elî said they were under an intense psychological pressure and couldn’t even raise their voice against injustice, and they risked suffering the same punishments if they did.

The woman said they fled to the liberated zones in Manbij because they couldn’t take it anymore, and that they now feel safe in the free zones.