A former Islamic State militant recently spoke with NBC news about his experience fighting with the group in Syria — and why he surrendered after just three days on the frontlines.
The man, a 24-year-old single father and college dropout who traveled
from New York back to his native Turkey, told NBC what has become a
familiar story. Socially isolated and lacking meaning in his life, he
was seduced by the jihadis' promise of a salary, a house, and a wife.
"My life was hard and nobody liked me," the man, who insisted on
anonymity, said while crying. "I didn't have many friends. I was on the
internet a lot and playing games."
This is a common profile among those recruited by the Islamic State,
also known as ISIS or ISIL, who are often young men (and women) seeking purpose and identity.
They are drawn to ISIS' promise of community, along with the glory of
potential martyrdom. ISIS' inclusive rhetoric, combined with its
social-media prowess, has allowed the group to recruit more foreigners
to its ranks than any other modern jihadist group.
Firsthand accounts of the militants' brutality from those who have
fought with ISIS, such as the one given by the Turkish-American recruit,
are still relatively rare, even though an estimated 20,000 foreign fighters have joined the group.
"They told us, 'When you capture someone, you will behead them,'" he
said. "But as for me, I have never even beheaded a chicken … It is not
easy … I can't do that."
He said he was also instructed to throw homosexuals off of tall
buildings and kill female adulterers. He said he decided to leave ISIS
after an airstrike killed six of his fellow fighters in the Syrian
border town of Tal Abyad.
"I got scared because in my whole life I hadn't seen anything like
this," he told NBC. "And since I was scared, I threw my pistol away and
my legs couldn't hold me."
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