What a terrible way to have to live.
'Bombs alone will not beat Isil, people will suffer more'
Mary Fitzgerald
PUBLISHED05/12/2015 | 02:30
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A stranded migrant holding a baby shouts next to a Greek police cordon following scuffles at the Greek-Macedonian border, near the village of Idomeni, Greece.
As British MPs deliberated this week on whether to extend the British aerial bombing campaign against Isil from Iraq to Syria, I thought of the people from Raqqa who had shared with me their stories of the militants' takeover of their city. Isil has controlled the northeastern Syrian city for almost two years, declaring it the capital of their so-called caliphate that now stretches across swathes of Syria and Iraq.
Before Isil arrived, residents liked to say that theirs was the "first liberated city" in Syria, a bastion of anti-Assad sentiment. But Isil soon started to infiltrate, taking on more mainstream opposition forces in the city and targeting them with bombings, kidnappings and executions. The campaign of fear worked.
By early 2014, Isil controlled the city. They carried out public crucifixions and beheadings while imposing draconian social codes. Their black flag flew from major municipal buildings. Foreign fighters flocked to Raqqa to join Isil in its self-declared capital.
I was in contact with a number of Raqqa's residents as the city fell under Isil's sway. The group was holding several foreigners and Syrians hostage there, including colleagues of mine such as Nicolas Henin, a French journalist who, along with three compatriots, was released after 10 months in captivity. Other fellow hostages, including journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, were killed by Isil.
As part of efforts to glean information on our kidnapped colleagues, a number of us journalists reached out to contacts in Raqqa. The stories I heard painted a terrifying picture. Stories of black-clad militants, many of them barely out of their teens, who swaggered around threatening locals. Stories of headless bodies left on public squares as a reminder of what would happen to anyone who dared defy them. "The Raqqa we knew is lost," one resident told me in early 2014. "We are living a nightmare. Fear follows us everywhere."
Continue reading at:
'Bombs alone will not beat Isil, people will suffer more' - Independent.ie?
'Bombs alone will not beat Isil, people will suffer more'
Mary Fitzgerald
PUBLISHED05/12/2015 | 02:30
A stranded migrant holding a baby shouts next to a Greek police cordon following scuffles at the Greek-Macedonian border, near the village of Idomeni, Greece.
As British MPs deliberated this week on whether to extend the British aerial bombing campaign against Isil from Iraq to Syria, I thought of the people from Raqqa who had shared with me their stories of the militants' takeover of their city. Isil has controlled the northeastern Syrian city for almost two years, declaring it the capital of their so-called caliphate that now stretches across swathes of Syria and Iraq.
Before Isil arrived, residents liked to say that theirs was the "first liberated city" in Syria, a bastion of anti-Assad sentiment. But Isil soon started to infiltrate, taking on more mainstream opposition forces in the city and targeting them with bombings, kidnappings and executions. The campaign of fear worked.
By early 2014, Isil controlled the city. They carried out public crucifixions and beheadings while imposing draconian social codes. Their black flag flew from major municipal buildings. Foreign fighters flocked to Raqqa to join Isil in its self-declared capital.
I was in contact with a number of Raqqa's residents as the city fell under Isil's sway. The group was holding several foreigners and Syrians hostage there, including colleagues of mine such as Nicolas Henin, a French journalist who, along with three compatriots, was released after 10 months in captivity. Other fellow hostages, including journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, were killed by Isil.
As part of efforts to glean information on our kidnapped colleagues, a number of us journalists reached out to contacts in Raqqa. The stories I heard painted a terrifying picture. Stories of black-clad militants, many of them barely out of their teens, who swaggered around threatening locals. Stories of headless bodies left on public squares as a reminder of what would happen to anyone who dared defy them. "The Raqqa we knew is lost," one resident told me in early 2014. "We are living a nightmare. Fear follows us everywhere."
Continue reading at:
'Bombs alone will not beat Isil, people will suffer more' - Independent.ie?
