ISIS members stop a bus, order women to put face veil in Deir ez-Zor

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that two ISIS militiamen have stopped a bus carrying women working in agriculture lands near the headquarters of the Syrian Democratic Forces in al-Baseerah city in the countryside of Deir ez-Zor province. The jihadists ordered the women in the bus to put the face veil and not using makeup. According to the women, the militiamen have also threatened to kill the driver if he commuted unveiled women again.
The incident has coincided with the continuous activity of ISIS in the SDF-held areas in general and the countryside of eastern Deir ez-Zor in particular.

ISIS reorganizes itself

For months now, the ISIS, which was thought to have been defeated, has been emerging with increased intensity, both in Iraq and in Syria. The jihadists are not only profiting from Coronavirus pandemic, however, but also from the conflicts in the region, for which Turkey is either directly responsible or involved. Above all, the ISIS has been massively strengthened by the Turkish invasion of northern Syria that began in October 2019. Jihadists who had managed to escape into the desert in the Syrian-Iraqi border region in the course of the liberation offensive “Cizire Storm” of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were able to reorganize themselves largely unhindered. Since then, attacks and suicide bombings by IS cells, as well as firefights, have become increasingly frequent in the region.

In Iraq, places in Salahaddin, Diyala, Nineveh and Kirkuk are particularly affected. The attacks are mainly directed against military targets such as the Iraqi armed forces and the Shiite militia alliance Hashd al-Shaabi, also known as the People’s Mobilization Force. However, the Peshmerga of South Kurdistan and the civilian population are also frequently targeted by the ISIS. In Syria, the cells of the militia are mainly active in eastern regions like Deir ez-Zor.