30 December 2016

The children of Mosul talk about life under Islamic State. They saw things no child should see

.... Iyad recalled how last year, when he and his father were going grocery shopping, they heard militants driving through the neighborhood, broadcasting an announcement from speakers on their cars: An elderly woman was about to be stoned to death, and those in the neighborhood — adults and children — were required to watch.

“They were forcing people to come see it,” Iyad said.

I sat down on the steps of a trailer belonging to a Swedish nonprofit working with families at the camp, closed for the day. Half a dozen boys formed a tight circle around us, all from Mosul neighborhoods near Iyad’s. As he told the story of the stoning, each boy added details, their faces stern.

“I saw everyone hitting her and they were saying ‘God is great!’” Iyad said, pretending to throw stones. “She was saying ‘Leave me!’ She was trying to run or to leave and they were saying ‘She is an infidel, just kill her!’” [Los Angeles Times] Read more