‘The practices of the HTS remind ISIS’

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) takeover of Syria and its inhuman practices reminding ISIS raise concerns about the resurgence of ISIS among Syrians, especially women.

NUR EL-AHMED

Raqqa- Selwa El-Ibrahim, one woman who survived and witnessed the atrocities of ISIS in Raqqa says the massacres committed against the Alawite and Druze communities in Syria today remind the genocide against the Yazidis in 2014.

On August 3, 2014, ISIS started attacking the Yazidi community in Shengal, abducting Yazidi women and selling them in slave markets. What has been going on in Syria’s coastal areas and city of Sweida resembles the attacks of ISIS but carried out by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) having the same mindset of ISIS, Selwa Al-Ibrahim told NuJINHA.

‘ISIS targeted women’

“When Raqqa was controlled by ISIS, it turned into a ghost city,” said Selwa Al-Ibrahim. “Execution, torture and horror took place in the city every day. ISIS first targeted women; women were abducted, tortured, sold in slave markets or isolated from society.” Selwa El-Ibrahim recalled the genocide committed by ISIS against the Yazidi community in Shengal. “Many Yazidi women were brought to Raqqa, sold to other ISIS members. Many of them are still missing.”

Selwa Al-Ibrahim commented on the recent sectarian tensions in Syria, indicating that a new and deepened civil war environment emerged in the country since HTS takeover of Syria on December 8, 2024. “Massacres were carried out against the Alawite community in Syria’s coastal areas. On July 13, attacks were carried out against the Druze in Syria’s city of Sweida. Since December 2024, many crimes have been committed against Alawite and Druze women. The armed groups of HTS have kidnapped many women and demand ransom from their families to release them. The HTS and ISIS share the same ideology, they have the same mindset. What has been happening in Syria reminds me of what ISIS did.”

Selwa Al-Ibrahim thinks that the HTS’s takeover of Syria should be seen as a development that poses a threat to the future of Syria. “The HTS has the same mindset of ISIS posing a threat to all ethnic and religious groups in Syria. This mindset is the enemy of women. As ethnic and religious identities of Syria, we have lived together for centuries without discrimination.”

Does ISIS regain strength?

The security gaps in areas controlled by the HTS have caused ISIS to regain strength in Syria. Selwa Al-Ibrahim recalled the attacks by ISIS on a military checkpoint in the town of Hajin, Deir ez-Zor and said, “The attacks took place due to the security gaps. ISIS regains strength in Syria, posing a threat to all people in Syria.”

She called on all women in the country to unite against any attacks on them. “Women pay the highest price in wars and conflicts. They are killed, raped and forcibly displaced. They are the first victims of wars and conflicts. Women in Syria must unite and raise their voice together in order to prevent the resurgence of ISIS. We need a government that embraces all people in Syria without discrimination in order to build a peaceful and stable Syria.”