Isis fighters' bride reveals horror of life in the so-called caliphate
Islam Mitat describes a ‘Little Britain’ in Raqqa where many young British people fought for Isis
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.An Isis fighter’s wife has revealed the horrors of the life of jihadi brides under the so-called caliphate after she was forced into Syria by her husband.
Islam Mitat, 23, a young mother of two said her life was turned around when her husband of three years, Ahmed, forced her to go to live in an Isis bastion in Syria, where he became a jihadi fighter.
Originally from Morocco, Ms Mitat a physics student and keen former fashion blogger, discovered life in “Little Britain” within the caliphate.
Speaking to The Sunday Times from a safe house in northern Syria, she revealed how she set up home with teenage British twins, Zahra and Salma Halane, who ran away from their home in Manchester in 2014.
Three schoolgirls from Bethnal Green, east London, Kadiza Sultana Amira Abase and Shamima Begum, also lived in the house, along with other jihadist brides from Bristol and Glasgow.
She also met Sally Jones, the “White Widow” from Kent, a former punk singer and now one of the most wanted female terrorists in the world, she said.
Ms Mitat said the jihadis were delighted to read about themselves in online British news sites and that they “looked happy” about the terrorist attacks in Europe.
Shortly after her arrival in Syria, her husband was killed in the battle of Kobane and a few months later her son Abdullah, now two, was born.
She told the paper that she had met him on a Muslim dating website. He told her they had to go to Turkey because of his work. Instead, she was forced to illegally cross into Syria.
After his death, she was married to a German Afghan fighter who banned her from leaving the house and seeing her friends, dashing her dream of fleeing.
She managed to divorce him but was remarried to an Australian fighter known as Abu Abdallah al-Afghani.
Despite her situation, encounters with Yazidi sex slaves made her realise her situation could be worse.
Witnessing them being regularly beaten, she said Isis fighters used them as “a bit of fun”. Her attempts to buy freedom for one of them was thwarted when she did not have enough money.
As the caliphate found itself under mounting military pressure, she witnessed the horrors of war first hand.
She said she witnessed mutilated bodies of so called traitors hanging and after an air strike, her street was filled with mutilated bodies.
“It was hard to see someone next to you killed,” she said. “Blood and all of this. It was terrible.”
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments