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https://apnews.com/article/syria-alawite-women-kidnapped-militants-extremists-rape-a469660022301de378d1fa130467bec0
Foreign fighters
Another woman said two of her female relatives, one of them a teenager, were taken by foreign fighters from a street in March. According to the relative’s account, the two were held in the basement of a house several hours away. There, the teenager was raped by the same man for 10 days until he left. The other woman was raped by another person for about two months, after which they were set free.
Another victim, who was 19, said she was taken in early July by three masked foreign fighters – an Iraqi and two non-Arabs.
“You Alawites are filthy infidels,” one of the men told her. When she tried to argue and begged for her life, he hit her head against the windshield until she bled.
She was locked in a basement of the Iraqi’s home. He threatened to kill her if she didn’t let him touch her. When she started screaming, he left, fearing neighbors would hear, she said.
She said she tried to kill herself by breaking a glass and cutting her vein, but the cut was not deep enough.
The next day, the Iraqi told her that his “emir,” a term used by jihadis to refer to their leader, had decided to set her free “on the condition that you learn about Islam.” The next morning, he put her in the car with his wife and children. On the way, he told her not to tell people she had been kidnapped but to say she’d left home of her own will to learn about Islam. They stopped and he bought her sweets from a store, then dropped her off at a taxi station in Idlib city, she said.
Not long after returning home, a state investigator came to her family home and questioned her about what happened. She identified the Iraqi through security footage from the sweets shop. But it is not known if he was arrested, and officials did not comment when asked.
Fearing reprisals, the family fled Syria.
Foreign fighters
Another woman said two of her female relatives, one of them a teenager, were taken by foreign fighters from a street in March. According to the relative’s account, the two were held in the basement of a house several hours away. There, the teenager was raped by the same man for 10 days until he left. The other woman was raped by another person for about two months, after which they were set free.
Another victim, who was 19, said she was taken in early July by three masked foreign fighters – an Iraqi and two non-Arabs.
“You Alawites are filthy infidels,” one of the men told her. When she tried to argue and begged for her life, he hit her head against the windshield until she bled.
She was locked in a basement of the Iraqi’s home. He threatened to kill her if she didn’t let him touch her. When she started screaming, he left, fearing neighbors would hear, she said.
She said she tried to kill herself by breaking a glass and cutting her vein, but the cut was not deep enough.
The next day, the Iraqi told her that his “emir,” a term used by jihadis to refer to their leader, had decided to set her free “on the condition that you learn about Islam.” The next morning, he put her in the car with his wife and children. On the way, he told her not to tell people she had been kidnapped but to say she’d left home of her own will to learn about Islam. They stopped and he bought her sweets from a store, then dropped her off at a taxi station in Idlib city, she said.
Not long after returning home, a state investigator came to her family home and questioned her about what happened. She identified the Iraqi through security footage from the sweets shop. But it is not known if he was arrested, and officials did not comment when asked.
Fearing reprisals, the family fled Syria.
