I was an ISIS slave – I saw Shamima Begum at camp where she learnt how to use suicide belts & guns, she'll never change | The Sun

AN ISIS slave has told how she saw Shamima Begum at a terrorist training camp where she would have been taught how to use suicide belts and guns.

Begum – who fled the UK as a teen to join the death cult – was also good friends with a sick ISIS slave-master who would sell girls as young as 14 into a life of sexual abuse.


Dila – which is not her real name – is a member of the Yazidi people who were subjected to genocide by ISIS, with an estimated 5,000 murdered and more than 10,000 kidnapped.

She was kept as a slave by ISIS for seven years – being sold, raped and abused after she was snatched aged just 13.

The now 20-year-old says she is 100 per cent certain she saw Begum at the terrorist training camp in Deir ez-Zor, Syria.

Speaking from North Kurdistan in Iraq, she sent a powerful message to apologists who claim that Begum is not dangerous saying the ISIS bride's new persona is "fake". 

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The former slave – whose identity needs to be protected as she still has seven family members missing, likely enslaved by ISIS – gave her testimony to squaddie turned documentarian Alan Duncan.

Duncan, who has spent years investigating ISIS's crimes – speaking to both perpetrators and victims, believes Dila's testimony is one of the most compelling pieces of evidence yet against Begum.

And the 55-year-old, from Scotland, warned returning ISIS brides may be "ticking time bombs".

Dila positively identified Begum as having been taking part in classes at a terrorist training camp, which was known as the "Students of Sharia".

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She would have been handling weapons – such as shotguns and M16 assault rifles – and being trained on how to use suicide belts.

The makeshift "school" was set-up as ISIS fled from Western-backed forces during the counteroffensive in Syria.

Begum was also being further indoctrinated with a warped interpretation of Sharia law.

"Students" would train from dusk-till-dawn at the ramshackle camp.

Dila said the group would be split into "classes" for weapons training – being taught on how shoot and handle guns – before all coming back together for lectures on Sharia.

And that is where she spotted Begum.

She was outraged when Duncan showed her a "cover-girl" picture of Begum wearing a sleeveless top and a baseball cap.

"It is fake by Begum. Living with ISIS women and ISIS in general I understand how they think, how loyal they are to their Sharia ideas," Dila said in an exclusive interview shared with The Sun Online. 

"Even if they are not in ISIS – I don't think they have open mentality and those clothes are representing them, I am certain.

She went on: "They are faking facts, women of ISIS will never change, they still believe in what they believe.

I have no doubt – I am very certain it was Shamima

"Many of them still in the camps believe ISIS will rise again."

Dila bravely spoke out as she desperately hopes for news of her family.

She wants justice for her people, who were subject to the most horrific brutality by the vicious jihadi terrorists.

At least 2,700 Yazidi women and children remain missing – many of them likely still held by ISIS.

In the videotaped interview, the former British Army soldier repeatedly pushes Dila on whether there is any doubt over the identity of the woman she saw.

And the interviewee replies there is no doubt in her mind, not even 1 per cent, that it was Begum.

"I have no doubt – I am very certain it was Shamima," she said via a translator.

Dila had vivid memories of Begum as she appeared to be friendly with a German ISIS bride she named as "Um-Herrera".

The bride, who was married to another German ISIS fighter, was well known as she was one of the slavers who would sell Yazidis.

And one of the people she sold was Dila's sister, 14 – who remains missing to this day.




"I assumed they were close friends because of the way they talked to each other," said Dila.

Despite being a Yazidi, Dila was attending the classes as she attempted to convince them she was a true-believer.

Yazidi people were often subject to forced conversions – and would face beatings if they did not accept the ISIS teachings.

After numerous "tests" by the terrorists, she managed to gain their trust – and so was allowed to attend the camp.

She was captured by ISIS from her home in Iraq when she was just a teenager as the cult rampaged across the Middle East.

The young woman was held as a slave – but was then moved to live in the cult's capital of Raqqa in September 2015.

Western-backed offensives began to push the cult back, and eventually Dila was moved to Deir ez-Zor, which is about 80 miles southeast of Raqqa.

Begum is also reported to have also moved from Raqqa to Deir ez-Ezor as the siege of the ISIS capital intensified, so her and Dila's movements appear to match up.

It is around this time as well – after the birth of her first child – Begum is reported to have joined ISIS's brutal "morality police".

During this period Begum is alleged to have carried a Kalashnikov assault rifle and stitched suicide bombs into vests – once again matching up with the account of her training from Dila.

And other eyewitness testimony has placed Begum as an active member of ISIS operations, not just as the stay-at-home housewife she claims to be.

Another eyewitness has placed Begum at the heart of terrorist activity, with another Yazidi sex slave interviewed by Duncan confirming she saw her giving speeches to "incite suicide bombers".

"She was giving information about who wants to go for fighting and who wants do suicide attacks. She had a paper to record names," the witness said.


THE GENOCIDE OF THE YAZIDIS

FEW people suffered more under the vicious boot of ISIS than the Yazidis.

Thousands of women and girls from the Kurdish minority group were forced into sexual slavery by the vicious terror group.

And the terrorists simply killed all the group's men they could get their blood-stained hands on.

It is estimated at least 5,000 Yazidis were killed, at least 10,000 kidnapped, and some 500,000 were forced to leave their homes.

The United Nations recognises the barbarity as nothing short of genocide.

ISIS first attacked the Yazidis during their bloody rise to power in 2014, butchering their way through their communities in northern Iraq.

Massacres were widespread – with victims being gunned down, beheaded or even buried alive.

Mass graves are still being discovered from this period – with 30 more bodies discovered this month in Hamadan.

But those who weren't killed were forced into slavery by ISIS.

Yazidi women and children were bought, sold and subjected to forced conversation to ISIS's warped for Islam.

They were turned into slaves – sold, raped and abused,

Disturbing accounts detail atrocities such as a mother being forced to eat pieces of her own baby, or women being burned alive for refusing to have sex with ISIS fighters.

Yazidi women who were pregnant were given forced abortions – and then raped by ISIS fighters so they could give birth to "Muslim babies".

ISIS considered Yazidis "devil worshippers" because of their religious beliefs.

The survivors are still reeling from the horrors inflicted upon them by ISIS – and they want justice.

Germany has managed to convict ISIS fighters of genocide for their crimes against the Yazidis – and meanwhile probs are also being carried out by the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.

Britain however – for whatever reason – appears to not be pursuing ISIS fighters for their complicity in the crimes against the Yazidis.

And Begum's jihadi husband Yago Riedijk also offered some clues that she was not the housewife she claimed to be.

He let slip she received wages for the terrorist group – which implies she was doing more than just staying home.

Dila eventually escaped as the caliphate collapsed – but she remains haunted by the horrific conditions she was subjected to by ISIS.

She was kidnapped as a teenager – before being sold as a slave in Mosul and taken into Syria.

Begum fled her home in Bethnal Green, London, to join ISIS at the age of 15 in February 2015.

She travelled with her two school friends Amira Abase and Kadiza Sultana, flying to Turkey before crossing into Syria.

As ISIS was defeated militarily in 2019, Shamima was rediscovered by journalists in al-Hawl refugee camp in Syria.

Begum seemed unphased by ISIS' crimes – admitting to witnessing beheading, shrugged off the rape of Yazidis, and attempted to justify the bombing of the Manchester Arena.

But after the Government signed an order to revoke her citizenship – she appears to have gone on a charm offensive, rehabbing her image as a regretful victim as she attempts to return to the UK.

She was even given a podcast by the BBC – which was branded a "sham".

Begum is due to appeal once again after the Special Immigration Appeal Commission rejected her latest bid to get back her British citizenship.

Duncan has warned Begum remains a threat to the UK – and points to her as a symptom of a wider issue around the treatment of female ISIS fighters.

Testimony from victims has placed the female members as key players in the abuse and tyranny – especially against those they kept as slaves like the Yazidis.

And yet, some female fighters have been allowed to return to the UK – including the shameless Samia Hussein, who was given a new prosthetic arm on the NHS.

Duncan compared how they are treated against with how British soldiers have faced witch hunts over allegations of crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan and Northern Ireland.


And he pointed to the example of Germany, who appeared to be actively pursuing and convicting ISIS brides for their crimes.

"They are ticking time bombs, many of them think they have lost the battle but not the war," Duncan told The Sun Online.

"There is no doubt in my mind many of them are a danger to this country, yet there is a lack of will to exact justice for the victims."

He went on: "A lot of people in the UK are screaming about Begum's rights – but why are they not screaming about the rights of the Yazidis?

"With the way things are -even if she gets back to the UK – she will never serve a day in prison."

Duncan formerly served with the Queen’s Own Highlanders and Royal Irish Regiment.

He then fought alongside the Kurdish Peshmergas as a sniper to battle against ISIS.

And after the war was over, he decided to use his camera as his new weapon in exposing the depravity of the jihadi cult's crimes.

Zemfira Dlovani, a lawyer and the chairwoman of the Central Council of Yazidis, told The Sun Online that the UK needs to be doing more to tackle returning ISIS fighters – especially the women.

She warned the use of the term "bride" often inherently downplays the involvements of the female fighters.

"The role of the woman was not just being a 'bride' – but they were killing people, having slaves and beating people," Ms Dlovani told The Sun Online.

"They did everything the men did."

And she said it is not just about justice for the Yazidi people – but also about keeping people safe from any potential future terrorist attacks.

If the world forgets about the plight of the Yazidi people, Ms Dlovani said, then ISIS win – as they will have succeeded in destroying them and taking away their homes.

"We need to help the Yazidis get back to their homes, this is the most important thing – the genocide is ongoing, and we need help from all other the world," she said.

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