IRAQ. Dohuk. 2019. Thikraan Kamiran, 18-year-old former fighter show his pictures from the time when he was fighting for ISIS.
ISIS tricked his grandfather, the mukhtar of the village, and the surrounding Arab villagers were part of the ploy, pretending to have reached a deal to allow them to walk free to Sinjar, but using the ruse to gather all the 1,800 people into the school in the village center, divide them into men, women and children, and take the men away to be executed. Thikraan was deemed too young to execute. He heard his father, and later his grandfather, shot to death. He and his mother and sister pretended to be Muslims, and didn’t understand why other Yezidis didn’t lie to survive as well. He and his mom marvel every evening how they are still alive, and how most of those they know are dead. He says he doesn’t feel guilty for playing along, but his eyes look flat when he says that.