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Reintegrating Islamic State families, a huge challenge for Raqqa

In 2014, the jihadist group IS brought terror to the eastern Syrian town of Raqqa, where fighters from around the world settled and married Syrian women. Some of these women adopted the group’s ideology. Now, viewed as complicit in terror, they are struggling to be accepted in their communities.

Reintegrating Islamic State families, a huge challenge for Raqqa

Najha, who works with the local NGO Oxygen, talks with two former wives of Saudi Islamic State fighters on a street in downtown Raqqa, on April 20, 2024. (Photo by Céline Martelet.)

In a nearly empty apartment in the city center, two women, Souad and Najha, sat on a thin mattress, chatting. Souad’s sons, Mohammad and Omar, seven and nine, frequently interrupted the conversation — seeking their mother’s attention. In 2014, their...
In a nearly empty apartment in the city center, two women, Souad and Najha, sat on a thin mattress, chatting. Souad’s sons, Mohammad and Omar, seven and nine, frequently interrupted the conversation — seeking their mother’s attention. In 2014, their...