Northern Syria – North-Press Agency
Roj Mousa / Jindar Abdulqader
Hamza al-Baf’s tour along with his three brothers from Australia to Thailand did not end with family gifts and souvenirs, as they decided further to go to Turkey, and then to enter Syria in 2015 to continue their journey to the so-called “Caliphate”.
Hamza al-Issam al-Baf, known as Abu Rayan, a 27-year-old Australian jihadist of Lebanese descents, the middle brother of five brothers and a sister, was living in Sydney before joining the Islamic State (ISIS) in early 2015 where his journey ended with the terrorist group in al-Baghouz in March of this year, upon his surrender in the last batch of jihadists.
North-Press met with Abu Ryan, the third arrested Australian jihadist, and the complainer of not seeing the sun, in a high-security SDF detention center.
Farewell to celibacy in the territories of the Caliphate
Like most of the Islamic State group’s militants, who are detained in SDF prisons in north and eastern Syria, Abu Rayan, who has traveled more than 10,000 kilometers, says he had worked in one of the group’s public kitchens in Deir ez-Zor.
He added that he had joined the group after he traveled with his three brothers to Thailand for touring, and then traveled to Turkey for the same sake, to end up in Syria without realizing that, as he claimed.
As he falsely claimed that they came as brothers to spend a happy family trip on the occasion of their elder brother’s marriage, Bilal al-Baf (29 years), with no intention nor willingness to join the Islamic State group.
“One of my brothers, I think it was Bilal, was coordinating our entry into Syria, to ISIS-held territories without our knowledge,” Abu Rayan recounted, pointing out that they didn’t approve such a deed, but they remained until the last batch of the group’s exit from their last stronghold in al-Baghouz in Deir ez-Zor.
From Turkey “the passage” to Syria the “Caliphate”
Hamza did not come out empty-handed from al-Baghouz, but carried his injury with him, which was apparent through the movement of his left hand, let alone the flabby accumulation on his body as a result of losing a lot of weight.
The Australian jihadist Abu Rayan entered the Caliphate, which was earlier declared by the Islamic State group in 2014, with his brothers; Omar al-Baf, known as Abu Omar, Bilal al-Baf, known as Abu Bilal, and Taha al-Baf, known as Abu Taha.
Abu Rayan described the way they entered Syria from Turkey as “easy”, and pointed out that the Turkish army was far from them and did not hinder their entry, saying that they had entered via the group’s vehicles which took them from the Turkish city of Sanliurfa to the Syrian city of Tal Abyad.
After entering Syrian territories, Abu Rayan sayd that they were hosted by the group for three months in Tal Abyad to be sorted out later. Abu Rayyan was moved to a restaurant in al-Mayadeen, which led to the loss of contact with his three brothers, as he claimed.
Traveled thousands of miles to open a grocery store
The Islamic State group was allocating a monthly salary of $100 for Abu Rayan for his work in a restaurant known as the “black restaurant”, as he claimed, he was later transferred to Deir ez-Zor due to intensive military operations against the terrorist group, where his salary was reduced to the half.
ISIS militants did not use the group’s own issued currency during intensive fighting because it was useless, says Abu Rayyan.
The jihadist Abu Ryan, who came from Australia, has opened a small store for selling biscuits in Deir ez-Zor, in order to earn money, while he was sleeping in mosques after he had left the group.
Abu Rayan continued his claims by saying that he left the group and began to move around the areas with a “horse”, in search of his three brothers of whom he heard that they were in Deir Ee-Zor, but he was afraid that the group would arrest him because he was a fugitive.
Proud and regretted
Throughout his talk, Abu Rayan noted that his father and his mother had contacted him and insisted on their return, the thing that Abu Rayan said that they could not, because there was a strong control over migrants (al-Muhajerin), as he spoke in plural form, meaning that communication was collective, in contrast to what he had previously claimed, by saying that he had lost contact with his three brothers in Tal Abyad.
He stressed that the process of fleeing ISIS dominated areas was way too difficult, and that if he has had the opportunity to leave, he would have done it, but “I was afraid of smugglers to hand us over to al-Shaitat tribe, Shiites or al-Rafidites”.
Signs of great deal of tension were apparent on Abu Rayan’s eyes and hands way of movement, as he contradicted himself many times throughout the interview. He said that he found everyone who didn’t like the group to be leaving, while he remained till the exit of the last batch of al-Baghouz, arguing that he was censored and talked about the difficulty of fleeing the territories held by the terrorist group.
Abu Rayan also considered that the strict Islamic State group was applying the teachings of the Quran and Islam, stressing that he had not heard of the killing of innocents as he had not participated or witnessed any field executions, rather, he only saw some cases of flogging which he considered as “normal”.
“I’d rather stay in northeastern Syria”
The regretted jihadist revealed his faith in flogging and cutting off hands, saying that they are teachings found in the Quran and are Islamic teachings.
As for the Yazidi women, he confirmed that they were sold as high-ranking slaves of the group as they were sold at high prices, hiding from answering to why the group had enslaved the Yazidis, by saying, “I don’t know why the Islamic State did that”.