One of its citizens, Muhammed at-Tellawy told Sputnik Arabic that Daesh’s self-proclaimed emir of Deir ez-Zor meets out cruel physical punishment to anyone who fails to obey his preaching.
The situation is worsened by the greed of the so-called “war profiteers,” who are in the business of making a quick buck under the pretext of aiding the Syrians.
“I was tormented before I could get out of Deir ez-Zor,” he told Sputnik.
“Daesh forbids residents leaving the city and surrounding villages. Only those who are sick get permission to leave the city for treatment. They formalize it by filling out an application. Then they are escorted by militants. The cost of the process is $200. But at the end, only those in critical condition are able to leave,” he explained.
At-Tellawy said that some people died after militants refused to let them out. Those suffering from renal disease or cardiac insufficiency could not have left to Damascus for treatment.
After the recent intensification of air strikes on the eastern and western areas of the province, many residents would like to escape to the north of the country and are searching for intermediaries who could obtain a permit from Daesh for a certain amount.
“I had to pay $1,000 to a Daesh leader, Abu Hussein Al-Iraqi, who issued a permit for me to leave. With these document the militants allowed me through the checkpoints,” at-Tellawy recalled.
But there are not many intermediaries like this, he added, there is only one more operating in Es-Saura settlement, who charges for sending people to Al-Iraqi for the permits.
Apart from such intermediaries there are smugglers, who charge $400-500 for trafficking people but not through official checkpoints controlled by Daesh. They go from one province to another off the main road and through fields often mined by the terrorists.
At-Tellawy said that some 10 civilians have tripped mines while trying to secretly escape from Daesh militants in the smugglers’ cars.
