World View: Celebrations in Manbij, Syria After Major Islamic State Defeat

This morning’s key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

• Wild celebrations in Manbij Syria, after major defeat for ISIS
• Manbij was known as ‘Little London’ because of British jihadists

Wild celebrations in Manbij Syria, after major defeat for ISIS

A man’s beard is cut off in Manbij on Saturday (Reuters)

Men are shaving their beards and women are removing their burqas in Manbij, Syria, today, after the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declared the city fully liberated on Friday.

The so-called Islamic State (IS or ISIS or ISIL or Daesh) captured the city of over 100,000 people in January 2014, turning what used to be one of Syria’s most liberal cities into a virtual hell. ISIS has adopted one of the most psychotic interpretations of Sharia law, with strict dress codes for both men and women, rules forbidding men and women from mixing, rules forbidding smoking and music, mosque attendance required five times per day, and a variety of punishments for even small violations, including flogging, losing a hand, or being beheaded.

The two months of heavy fighting killed more than 1000 people and displaced thousands from their homes. The fighters also freed hundreds of civilians the extremists had used as human shields.

The capture of Manbij is a significant defeat for ISIS because it lies on a key supply route between Turkey’s border and the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the ISIS. Before ISIS took over, the population of Raqqa was over one million, but many people have fled the city, and it’s estimated now that the population is between 250,000 and 300,000. ARA News (Syria-Kurdish) and Telegraph (London) and AP

Manbij was known as ‘Little London’ because of British jihadists

So many jihadists from Britain have traveled to Manbij to join ISIS that the city has been nicknamed “Little London.”

As many as 700 British citizens are thought to have traveled from Britain to Syria to join ISIS between 2011-15, and half of them are believed to have since returned to Britain. There are also jihadists from Germany, France, Saudi Arabia, and Algeria, but Britain has the highest number.

Many of the British citizens re “jihadi brides” who traveled to Syria to marry an ISIS fighter. I assume that these girls are turned on erotically by men who cut off other people’s heads. Telegraph (11-Jan) and Daily Mail (3-Jun)

KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Manbij, Syria, Syrian Democratic Forces, SDF, Islamic State / of Iraq and Syria/Sham/the Levant, IS, ISIS, ISIL, Daesh, Turkey, Raqqa, Britain, Little London
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