ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The man shaved his beard and then stood in the street smoking a cigarette in broad daylight - two major offenses in the so-called caliphate of the Islamic terror group ISIS. Before too long, the group’s religious police, the Hisba, came and put the man in their car and drove away. In the car, the man pulled out a weapon and killed them all. He then escaped in the car of a friend that had escorted him on his mission. This Hollywood-like plot was recently played out for real in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which has been in the hands of ISIS since June 2014. It was reported by Mosul Eye, a historian who blogs in deep secret from inside the city. Stories that emerge from Mosul are scarce. Mobile phone lines have been cut, so civilians use the Internet to connect with family and others outside the city. They may complain about lack of electricity and services, but are scared to give information because ISIS has warned them they are monitored. Yet through sources in Kurdistan that are in contact with civilians in Mosul, reports have surfaced about acts of resistance amid an atmosphere of growing despair. Attacks have targeted the forces ISIS put in place to control the city. Earlier this month, it was reported that five members of the all-female Khansa Brigade were gunned down outside their main office. The Khansa Brigade punishes women if their dress is seen as non-Islamic. A resistance group called the Free Officers Movement, made up of former officers of Saddam Hussein’s army, were reportedly behind the attack but it cannot be confirmed. Details about resistance in Mosul are also scarce. Much of the action seems disorganised, such as the help some 25 Peshmerga got from civilians after they managed to escape from an ISIS prison in Mosul. Multiple reports said civilians hid them from ISIS and helped them to get out of the city. For many, the situation in the city has been worse since the Iraqi government in May decided to cut all wages for civil servants in Mosul province in areas under ISIS occupation. These salaries had still been paid for almost a year after ISIS took over, and the group had profited by demanding a percentage. To stop this income to the terror group, Baghdad stopped the wages completely. Sources from Mosul point out that this has taken away the main means of living for civilians under ISIS occupation. In some cases, it has driven them into the arms of the terror group. The main income in the city now comes from ISIS, forcing people to take up jobs with the group to be able to survive. The group has called on people to work for them, offering monthly salaries of $200 to $300. It has been reported that the move to cut salaries further damaged the trust people in Mosul feel towards Baghdad. Many feel abandoned. Leaflets promising liberation have been dropped over the city a number of times, but many residents no longer believe it will ever come. The relationship between Mosul and the government was further poisoned when Baghdad recently refused admission to the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca to hundreds of civilians from Mosul. Some 970 civilians travelled to Baghdad to fly to Saudi Arabia, but less than 400 were accepted by the committee in charge of dividing the Iraqi quota for the journey. All of those allowed to travel were over sixty years of age, and the some 600 others were sent back to Mosul. ISIS used the incident to point out that the Shiite government is not to be trusted. Although Sunnis in Mosul fear the ferocity of the Shiite militias fighting ISIS, they also remember that ISIS captured their city because the mostly Shiite Iraqi army fled. Leaving the Mosul is only possible for those who have enough money to pay bribes or a smuggler. Civilians normally need a permit from the ISIS authorities and must leave all their possessions and a family member behind to guarantee their return. If the traveller does not return in time, his or her possessions are confiscated and the family member goes to prison. To leave the city without ISIS consent, bribes of as much of $3,000 per person are reported to be needed. Smugglers charge around $900 per person. The illegal road out of Mosul usually goes through Syria to Turkey. To scare civilians from rising up, ISIS executes people each week for non-Islamic behavior. Along with the Hisba and the Khansa Brigade, a secret service known as Diwan al-Amnya is also active. It is said to consist mainly of former agents of Saddam’s secret service. In fact, ISIS has copied many of the tactics used by the former Iraqi dictator to instil fear. For example, relatively recent video footage shows that the Saddam-era mass grave known as Al Khasfa, a deep natural hole of 50-100 square metres some 40 km south of Mosul, is in use once again. Many of the missing residents of Mosul are thought to be there. It is said people are blindfolded and forced to walk over the edge, or shot.
