The Untold Story Of The Wives And Children Of Islamic State Militants

Among the hundreds of displaced families in war-torn Sirte are wives and children of Islamic State militants. THE WEEK brings you their untold story.

- Francesca Mannocchi

Sirte—Islamic State’s Libyan headquarters—has been reduced to a silent mass of rubble. Nothing but bad memories remain. Near the Zafaran roundabout, where until a few months ago IS leaders had publicly hanged and beheaded people, the streets bear scars of the intense battle that saw US-backed Libyan forces retake the coastal city (see graphics).

Homes, banks, mosques and hospitals lie razed, even as residents cautiously return to the city. Some shop walls still bear IS stamps for tax collection. The road to Ouagadougou Conference Centre has two IS billboards. While the first one is an invitation to pray, the second depicts a Kalashnikov, and declares: “If you betray us, you are betraying your family.”

The bloody battle has left hundreds of families betrayed.

During the final cleansing operation, General Mohammed al Ghasri, spokesman for the Libyan offensive, said more than 2,500 corpses of IS militants were found in the rubble.

Most of them—Tunisians, Iraqis, Nigerians and Libyans—died young.

Documents from their bodies show years of birth as 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988....

Mohammed Malouf is a young Libyan soldier who lost many comrades-in-arms in Operation Al-Bunyan al-Marsous, better known as the Battle for Sirte, which lasted from May to mid December last year.

“They [the militants] were young guys like us,” says Malouf. “I cannot understand how it is possible for a young man to blow himself up in the name of a corrupt interpretation of Islam. Our God does not want this.”

Malouf says he was scared, especially during the final weeks of the battle, as the IS militants were ruthless to the extent of sacrificing their own families to kill Libyan soldiers.