Man hopes to find missing brother during ISIS era in Syria’s Raqqa
Abdullqader who lost a brother during ISIS era in Raqqa nine years ago - North Press
RAQQA, Syria (North Press) – Though he unsparingly has searched for his missing brother, Abdullqader has not yet lost hope to find him, he is still confident he would find him and glimpse of hope still prevails since he has not found his dead body.
Sometimes, the man thinks his brother is alive somewhere. However, he could have lost memory under torture.
Over the course of nine years, in which Abdullqader had never seen his brother, he has been daunted by a lot of ideas and thoughts.
Abdullqader al-Hindawi, from the city of Tel Abyad north of Raqqa, northern Syria, said the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) captured his brother Ismail, a father of four children, under “renegade” and that he was a fighter of Sahwa (Sons of Iraq), in a reference to groups fought al-Qaeda in Iraq.
The ISIS reign in Raqqa and elsewhere across Syria in the lands of the caliphate was dominated by blatant violations, including arbitrary arrests, forced disappearances and public executions.
ISIS took al-Naim and al-Sa’a roundabouts in the city to carry into effect its passed sentences. Beheaded heads could remain for days on display.
Although ISIS was a repressive group so Abdullqader remained daunted with fears, he paid visits to offices and headquarters of ISIS in his search for his brother.
After much insistence, he was told his brother would be freed after a 70-day “repentance course.”
Al-Hindawi added his brother had nothing to do with military factions, he used to work in cultivation and to support his family whose members were studying or working elsewhere.
Fled away
After the lapse of the 70 days, the man again asked about his brother in al-Mansoura, where he was told his brother had fled along with Father Palo [Paolo Dall’Oglio, an Italian Jesuit priest and peace activist, who went missing in Raqqa in 2013.]
Paolo entered Raqqa in July 2013 when ISIS was fighting other opposition factions months after the caliphate was announced.
Al-Hindawi spared no efforts in his search for his brother, he even resorted to ISIS leaders. A leader in the organization asked him to pay five millions Syrian pounds (then estimated at 20.000 USDs) in turn for releasing his brother, but he was deceived.
Due to repeated enquiries, he received death threats.
He had received information from a man, who was released from an ISIS detention center, that his brother was transferred to Iraqi border so al-Hindawi went to Mosul in Iraq, however, to no avail.
To the surprise of al-Hindawi upon returning from Mosul, he found ISIS had seized all the family’s properties in Raqqa under pretext that it is a “renegade family” thus they moved to Tel Abyad.
He never returned to Raqqa until the organization was expelled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) supported by the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in 2017. He found his house was destroyed.
After his return, al-Hindawi and 20 other individuals formed a society named “Relatives of Missing Individuals.”
Eight months ago, they applied to the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) for permission with “no okay received up to date,” he said.
ISIS lost its final stronghold in Syria in March 2019. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with the support of the US-led Global Coalition, defeated ISIS after fierce battles in the town of Baghouz in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, bringing an end to the so-called caliphate declared by the terrorist ISIS.