MAKHMOUR, Kurdistan Region - Despite living under Islamic State (ISIS) rule which strictly forbid smoking this woman refused to adhere to their rules. Choosing to smoke indoors in secret she recalls how she opposed the group when living under their rule before escaping to the sanctuary of Kurdistan. "I used to buy cigarettes secretly and smoke indoors," she explained. "Their [ISIS's] rules were too strict. They destroyed our lives, but I was secretly opposed to them." Generally life under ISIS for women "was worse than hell," since they couldn't do anything which was strictly forbidden under ISIS's strict totalitarian rule.
