Alayan Shahab al-Shati is one of the Suvar Idlib Brigade fighters, from the Tedmur region of Homs. Shahab, 35, is married and has three children. While his family is staying in the refugee camp in Tabqa. He carries out his defense duties in the Manbij front line.

He said he met Kurds while serving in the Syrian regime army and added: “I made good friends with the Kurds in the military. They were a source of honesty and trust. As we were nomads, we used to travel around Tedmur in the winter and all the Syrian cities in the summer. I always wanted to go to my Kurdish friends.”

'They darkened our life'

Shahab explained the difficulties they faced during the ISIS occupation. “Most of us used to live on the tops of the mountains. So we didn't know much about what was going on. We had heard that Ceyşul Hür had come to our region. After a while, we learned that a new group had arrived. They called themselves the Islamic State. Their headquarters were next to each other. They were with Ceyşul Hür for a while, then they broke up. ISIS has now started to ban everything. At first they banned smoking. Then they started with our clothes. They made it obligatory to grow a beard and cut a moustache. We stayed with them for two years. They were very difficult days. They darkened our lives. In fact, we almost hated Islam. Let me give an example. Since we were nomads, we brought the water from the wells by car. Each well was surrounded by checkpoints. They did not give water to those who did not receive sharia education and those who did not have zakat paper. This forced us to receive sharia education and zakat paper. We could no longer live with them.”

Shahab said that they escaped from ISIS persecution and went to the Rukban camp on the Jordanian border. “ISIS did not allow families to leave. When they saw a car, they would stop it, confiscate it and cut off the heads of the people in it. We went illegally to the Rukban camp on the Jordanian border. We stayed there for 3 years. The situation in the camp was not good either. You were either going to be a Ceyşul Free soldier or you were going to take care of the aid. I started the motor business. The Syrian army then closes the camp. Then I said to my father, the regime has come and they will force us to join the army, so I am going to the Kurds.”

Things are so different here

Shahab said that they moved to the Autonomous Administration regions in 2017, and added: “In 2017, I came with 40 people to the Autonomous Administration regions illegally and settled in the camps. Most of us joined the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). I came to Tabqa and joined the SDF. After comparing the regime period, then the ISIS occupation and now, I decided to join the SDF in line with the conclusion I reached. The regime didn't do justice, but it wasn't like that with your friends. When it comes to the ISIS period, especially when it comes to women, it was as if women were in prison. Because we were Arab nomads, there is a distance of 5 km between each house. Women could not go to the door without wearing a chador. Even if she went to collect wood, because she went alone, ISIS special teams came and tortured her. There is a difference here, like day and night.”

Shahab served his duty for the liberation of Deir ez-Zor and on the Ain Issa front line. Today he is on duty today in the Manbij defense line within the Suvar Idlib Brigade. Shahab said: “Women who did not have the right to speak have gained these rights with the revolution. The revolution has achieved so much. The Suvar Idlib Brigade will not give even an inch of this land to anyone.”