How a young woman became an ISIS bride — and then an informant, helping save others
WESTERN CANADA —
asserted
woman → become → others
Outside a tall apartment building we meet a slim, smiling woman dressed in a black shirt and jeans.
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we → meet → shirt
She invites us inside, and we sit in a conference room, where she begins to tell her story.
asserted
she → invite → story
We're not using her real name, or her home city, fearing her past could lead to repercussions.
uncertain
past → use → repercussions
It's a past that led her into the arms of the Islamic State and brutal fighting in Syria.
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that → lead → Syria
And to this day, she doesn't know how she survived.
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she → know → day
She agreed to let us use her first initial, S.
She was born in Pakistan to Somali parents and raised in Canada since the age of two.
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She → agree → two
She was a teenager when her brother was shot and killed by an acquaintance who was high on drugs.
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who → shoot → drugs
She was devastated and yearned for some kind of solace, some kind of peace.
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She → devastate → peace
"I turned to religion and God," she says in a quiet voice.
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she → turn → voice
"My family comes from a Muslim background.
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family → come → background
So I started practicing my religion more.
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I → start → religion
And I started to become friends with other Muslim girls my age.
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I → start → girls
S. became more devout, trading her Western clothes for a veil — a hijab — and a long dress.
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S. → become → veil
But it also made her a target for some.
"
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her → make → some
My family was picking me up from the train station, and I was attacked by a random group of people," she remembers.
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she → pick → people
"They sprayed me and my whole family with bear mace for no reason."
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"They → spray → reason
She was on the train when she noticed two men staring at her.
"
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men → notice → her
They were looking at me and making comments like, 'Maybe we should get on the next train in case this one gets blown up.'
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one → look → case
Between high school and university, S. enrolled herself into a religious boarding school in eastern Canada, as she sensed Islamophobia all around her.
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she → enrol → her
And it's there that her life began to change, moving from devout to radical.
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life → begin → radical
"I started to make friends with some girls, and one of them was a returnee from Somalia who joined a terrorist organization called al-Shabab."
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who → start → organization
That Somali woman coached S. and urged her to leave for a Muslim nation.
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woman → coach → nation
"I'm Canadian as it gets.
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it → get → ?
And then on the other hand, when I was hearing the Islamic scholars saying, 'Leave the West, you're going to be targeted, you're going to be attacked.'
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you → hear → West
It was doing something to my brain that made me feel like running away from here and living in a Muslim country where I would fit in," she said.
asserted
she → do → country
At this point S. was also under watch by Canadian authorities for the company she was keeping.
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she → keep → company
"The intelligence agencies in Canada started to approach me at my job.
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agencies → start → job
They came to my house, they were calling me on the phone.
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they → come → phone
And that made me feel very uncomfortable and scared because, you know, they were investigating her, but they were putting pressure on me," she said.
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she → make → me
Before her freshmen year of college, S. returned to her family's home.
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S. → return → home
Her parents, feeling the pressures of government inquiries, eventually asked S. to leave their home.
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parents → feel → home
And S. felt more and more the pull of that Somali woman, who agreed to pay for her passage to a Muslim country.
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who → feel → country
So in 2014, S., barely out of her teens, made a crucial decision and flew to Turkey.
asserted
S. → make → Turkey
"I thought what I was doing was correct according to my religion, which was to go to a Muslim country, aid the Muslims, help the Muslims, live amongst Islam and practice my religion more freely," she said.
uncertain
she → think → religion
The Somali woman connected her with smugglers in Istanbul.
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woman → connect → Istanbul
And it was there, with a mixture of apprehension and excitement, that she hopped in a van with other ISIS recruits.
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she → hop → recruits
They drove south into the darkness, until they reached a remote farmhouse.
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they → drive → farmhouse
"So we were driving and then abruptly stopped," S. says.
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S. → drive → ?
"And they swung the doors open and told us to run.
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they → swing → us
…and 118 more, not listed.
The Aporia
