‘Didn’t Come to Kill’: Hundreds of ISIS Wives, Traumatized Kids Stranded in UN-Backed Iraqi Camp

© Erik de Castro / Reuters

The constant fear of revenge and bleak hopes of returning home are the factors that shape the lives of former wives of Islamic State militants with whom RT met at an Iraqi army camp. Many claim they only followed their terrorist husbands along an ill-fated route.

Hundreds of women, mostly of Turkish, central Asian, Russian and European origin, and the children they bore to Islamic State fighters that were killed, captured or forced to flee after government forces liberated the city of Tal Afar have been housed in a UN-sponsored camp in Iraq.

The exact location of the camp and identities of its residents are kept secret by the UN which fears that any information leaks will compromise the site’s security and put hundreds of vulnerable lives at risk.

In exclusive footage from the camp, RT’s Murad Gazdiev reached out to some of the Russian-speaking women who told him they are now cherishing only one dream.

“I want to go home. I’m here by accident. I really want to go home... Please get me out of here,” a widow of an IS widow told Gazdiev, crying.

She said her husband perished during the months-long Iraqi offensive on Mosul earlier this year. The city’s much-awaited recapture spurred the liberation of the nearby ISIS stronghold of Tal Afar, held by militants for three years. As the remaining jihadists surrendered and were taken into custody by the Kurdish militia, their wives were handed over to Iraqi forces. 

The woman claimed her attempts to escape the clutches of IS were in vain.

“It was impossible to get out of here. I tried running away, but nothing worked.” 

Many women, who had overcome numerous obstacles and dangers en route to the IS-controlled territory, did not have the slightest idea of what life under the terrorist group will entail, another one confessed.

“Most women here came with their husbands. We didn't come here to fight, or to kill. We came here to live,” she said, adding that once someone arrives at an IS-controlled territory, there is no way back.

“My mother came for me, and they held her too. ISIL wouldn’t let anyone go, even if you needed medical treatment.” she said, adding that she was desperate to leave as well. “Who would want to live there?”

Another woman told Gazdiev it did not occur to her that the road to the jihadist hell was one-way and she would have to be stranded there despite her desire to go back to Ukraine.

“I came here willingly, but I didn't want to stay. I wanted to go back... but I couldn't. I saw the fighting, the war, it hit me psychologically.”

While many IS wives say they now feel lost and scared of the future without their killer husbands, there is also the other side of the story, as some chose to end their lives on the path of terror.

“When we came here, one of the women with us blew herself up. Soldiers started shooting. We ran, and one woman hid under a car. We knew she had heart problems, and I saw her die. That was it,” a woman who witnessed the incident told Gazdiev.  

The deceased woman’s three-year-old daughter Maryam remained at the camp. Shortly before her death, the mother said she wished for her daughter to brought back to her grandparents in Russia’s Dagestan.

After years spent with the terrorists, many women and children are deeply traumatized by the daily horrors they have encountered. Scores of children have been orphaned by the war.

The children are now being cared for by UNICEF, with dozens of Russian-speaking children of parents who came to Iraq to join IS stranded in orphanages.

RT has launched its ‘Bring them home’ campaign after relatives recognized some of the children in one of the videos RT filmed in an orphanage in Baghdad. Several children have already been brought back home with help of the Chechen and Dagestani authorities.   

The Iraqi camp’s administration is now working to establish the identities of the women, which is a challenge as many lack even basic documents.

However, there are also those who are reluctant to alert their relatives of their whereabouts.

“I don’t think my parents know that I am here, but I told my daughter and asked her not to tell them. My parents are elderly and ill – they could have a heart attack,” a woman said.

Tal Afar, Iraq

What do you think of the idea of making those who would return to predominantly non-Muslim countries renounce Islam? 

UN Blasts Hamas for Digging Terror Tunnel under Palestinian School, Endangering Children

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency blasted the Hamas terror group for putting young Palestinian students’ lives at risk.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestinian refugees announced on Monday that it has sealed a Hamas terror tunnel built under two of its schools in the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

The tunnel was discovered at the beginning of June, after the Maghazi Elementary Boys A&B School and the Maghaz Preparatory Boys School had closed for the summer. The Jerusalem Post reported that UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness has confirmed the sealing of the tunnel.

In a statement released when the tunnel was first discovered, Gunness said that “UNRWA condemns the existence of such tunnels in the strongest possible terms. It is unacceptable that students and staff are placed at risk in such a way.”

“The construction and presence of tunnels under UN premises are incompatible with the respect of privileges and immunities owed to the United Nations under applicable international law, which provides that UN premises shall be inviolable,” Gunness stated, adding that “The sanctity and neutrality of UN premises must be preserved at all times.”

In the past, UNRWA filed complaints against Hamas— the terrorist organization in complete military and political control of the Gaza Strip— for building tunnels under its premises, vowing that it intended to seal the group’s military infrastructure.

Heart of Hamas Strategy: Human Shields

At the heart of Hamas’s strategy is the use of Gazans as human shields–– a war crime and terrorist tactic aimed at exploiting the moral sensibility of the enemy.

Aimed mostly at fueling  propaganda machines to make Israel look like they are indiscriminately killing civilians when it is Hamas who are setting these civilians up as targets. And these same poor people vote for Hamas. What insanity!

On Thursday of last week, the head of the IDF’s Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, told reporters that Hamas had built tunnel systems beneath an apartment building and a family home in the northern Gaza Strip. “Our intelligence shows without any doubt that Hamas is building its infrastructure for the next round of fighting in the civilian arena,” Zamir explained.

The Times of Israel later reported that, despite detailed evidence provided by the Israeli military, Hamas dismissed the allegations as war propaganda to make excuses for any future action taken by the IDF in case of an escalation between Israel and the terrorist group.

The Palestinians' self-proclaimed knife intifada is the latest result of ongoing incitement against innocent Israelis. Israelis are being stabbed, shot and run over. Yet the world is silent. 

Protesters Block Migrant Routes to Calais, Demand End to ‘Invasion in Europe’

© Génération Identitaire / Facebook

More than a hundred protesters have blocked several routes for migrants, preventing them from gaining access to Calais. The activists’ banners called to “stop the invasion of Europe” and “defend” their city.

The protest was initiated by the Facebook community Génération Identitaire, a group which opposes mass migration. According to the group’s estimates, more than 130 people took part in the rally.

The activists, who were carrying banners with the slogans “Go Home,” “Defend Calais” and “No way,” claimed they had taken control of three bridges leading to the city.

At least 12 protesters have been detained by riot police, the group later wrote.

“For months, Calais has been a symbol …of the real invasion confronting our continent,” the group wrote on Facebook, saying that the city has recently seen “attacks against police, against motorists and truck drivers, city riots, the total disintegration of social life and the economy.”

The group blamed political leaders in France and across Europe for the deteriorating situation in the city.

“Since these governments refuse to protect people by restoring the borders,… they will see people building barricades! As this morning in Calais,” the group added.

Numerous photos and videos on social media show the protesters surrounded by police.

The rally comes a day after a huge blaze ripped through the Calais ‘Jungle’ refugee camp. The cause of the fire is still unknown.

On Friday, Xavier Bertrand, president of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie region, told the Guardian that France wants UK border guards to tell refugees that Britain is tightening asylum rules.

“What we need now is UK border guards going through the camp at Calais every week telling the people that it is no longer the case that the UK is an El Dorado,” he said.

He added that Calais residents “are exasperated.” “It is not sustainable for the region. I do not want a drama, it’s what I want to avoid, but it’s possible someone will be killed unless we make progress,” he said.

Earlier in March, hundreds of Calais residents arrived in Paris to protest against the deteriorating economic situation in their region, which they say has been caused by the migrant crisis.

Doctors Without Borders have opened a new migrant camp near the town of Grande Synthe, in the Nord-Pas de Calais region. The camp was set up without the approval of the French government.

The new camp project was launched after French authorities ordered the demolition of part of the Calais Jungle camp, which served as a temporary home for over 5,000 asylum seekers. It was the largest makeshift camp in Europe and has gradually turned into a small town with its own social life.

In February, a court in Lille authorized the demolition of the Jungle, but commanded police to spare public facilities such as mosques, restaurants and schools that have sprung up on the site.

Most Jungle residents, whose overall numbers likely exceed 4,000, are from the Middle East, Africa, and Afghanistan. Most have traveled to France in the hope of crossing the English Channel to the UK, after having had their applications rejected elsewhere, or in expectation of better prospects in the country.