BEIRUT: The Islamic State enforced an ‘Afghan-style’ dress code on all men in its stronghold of Raqa in Syra, in order for its members to blend into the civilian population.
“For more than two weeks, Afghan-style clothing has been imposed by Daesh,” said Abu Mohamed, a member of the ‘Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently’ activist group.
“Anyone who does not comply faces prison and a fine,” he added.
The rule, Abu Mohamed said, “is an attempt to make it harder for aeroplanes and the Kurdish forces… to distinguish between civilians and Daesh members.”
A Kurdish-Arab alliance of fighters, backed by the US-led coalition has recently launched air strikes against IS, and have made advances close to Raqa.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, also reported the new rule.
“The Islamic State has imposed Afghan-style dress on residents of Raqa so that informants giving coordinates to the US-led coalition will not be able to distinguish between civilians and fighters,” Observatory Director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Abu Mohamed noted that a “state of alert” had been imposed in the city, with new checkpoints springing up and IS arresting anyone who describes the situation as dire.
“Prices are skyrocketing and there is no electricity or water,” he added.
Meanwhile, civilians as well as the families of IS fighters have been attempting to flee into the Raqa province from neighbouring Aleppo, where IS is under assault from the east, said the Syrian Observatory.
