Spotlight: People in IS de facto capital live on "another planet"

"Do you imagine what it feels like to live in a constant state of apprehension, where you fear to lose your head with every beheading you witness in a public square," wondered Khadija, a young woman who lives in al-Raqqa in northern Syria, where the Islamic State (IS) militants call it their capital.

Draped in a black burqa, which covered her body and face with a mesh screen over her eyes, Khadija said she was a university student but her education has been hindered as the IS group does not allow people to go to the government-controlled schools and universities.

The girl, in her 20s, slipped out of the IS-controlled territory in al-Raqqa with her female friend, Khawla, and reached the central city of Homs, through a sub-route with a smuggler who asked a considerable amount of cash to whisk them to safety.

"Everyone under 50 is banned from leaving to the 'land of the infidels' that's what they call the government areas," she said, adding that "you either need to have a permission by one of their doctors to leave to get medical treatment, or you have got to pay a whole lot of money to smugglers."

Khadija said she had witnessed eight executions herself in the public square of al-Raqqa, which is called the Naim Square, or the Paradise. "The square should be called now the hell square as the IS carries out most of its public executions there."

"Daesh has instilled fear in people's hearts, and people there fear their throats could be sliced if Daesh discovered one of the residents is attempting to disseminate photos and videos of their practices, other than what the group itself publishes," Khadija said, using the Arabic acronym of the IS.

Khadija described al-Raqqa as "another planet" after it was overrun by the Islamic State in early 2014.

BLEED TO DEATH

Bleeding to death is not strange in al-Raqqa, said Khadija, who said one of her friends died like that when she was punished by the IS morale police, known as Husbah, because her burqa shifted a little and showed part of her leg.

"The Husbah stopped my friend and asked her to choose between three types of punishment; to be whipped 30 lashes in public, to be pinched or to give herself to one of the Daesh people to marry," she said.

Khadija said her friend chose to be pinched, thinking that was the easy way out.

"A big black woman pinched my friend in her chest with a metal tool, causing her to bleed heavily with no one to help and she ended up dead," Khadija recounted.

IS MILITANTS IN AL-RAQQA MOSTLY FOREIGNERS

It's not a secret anymore that many of the IS militants in al-Raqqa are non-Syrians, according to Khadija, who said that some of them are from the Gulf states, others are Asians, but the majority of them are from north Africa.

The known and disseminated practices of the IS in al-Raqqa are nothing compared to reality, Khadija continued.

"The penalty for smoking is cutting the smoker's fingers while wearing a tight jeans or chewing gum is penalized by 10 to 20 lashes. Those who are accused of committing acts of disbelievers, or dealing with the government are penalized to death by beheading," she said.

DESTRUCTION OF TEMPLES

Khadija said there are no Christian families anymore in al-Raqqa, as they fled that area out of fear of the IS militants, who turned the main Arminian church into a headquarters for the IS operations.

"They also destroyed two ancient Islamic tombs after booby-trapping them," she said.

As for the marketplaces which were bustling with women, the streets get almost empty as the women fear to go out and get in direct contact with the militants, who might eye one of them, she said.

She only wears her burqa because of the IS, she said, adding that "they distorted the religion image in the minds of too many people, including mine." Endit