Islamic State Jihadist Group (ISIS/ISIL) Opens Marriage Matchmaking Office
The Islamic State, the extremist group that has taken control of large swaths of Syria and Iraq in the last few weeks, has reportedly opened a matchmaking office to help women marry its fighters. The group, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) and long designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. Department of State, has launched an office for "single women and widows who would like to marry [Islamic State] fighters" in al-Bab, northern Syria, according to news reports.
The news comes from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a U.K.-based monitoring group with a network of sources on the ground. Citing residents of al-Bab as sources, the group said on Monday that interested woman who provide their names and addresses will be contacted by Islamic State (IS) militants.
"IS fighters will come knocking at their door and officially ask for marriage," the group said, according to the Agence France-Presse (AFP). While the initiative may seem bizarre, it's not out of step with the group's recent exploits. Reuters reports that the Islamic State has been seeking wives or forcing women to marry its fighters in its regions over the last few weeks. The jihadist group has also reportedly started organizing promotional bus tours of the areas it controls, which cater to both civilians and couples looking for a honeymoon through the newly declared "caliphate" that spans across the Syria-Iraq border.
Chechen jihadist Abu Abdel Rahman al-Shishani was one of the first to take the tour, according to AFP. Following its radical interpretation of Islam, IS has imposed strict limitations on women in the territories it controls, such as establishing guidelines on what to wear, including full veils. An Amnesty International report accused the group of human rights abuses in the region that include brutal interrogations, abductions, torture and floggings. Despite its goal of establishing a caliphate under extremist Islamic rule, the group has embraced American social media and boasted of its actions in sleek corporate-style annual reports. http://mashable.com/2014/07/28/islamic-state-marriage-office/
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