Internet Lounge: Chamber of Terror under ISIS rule

Stories from the series Returning from Death, collected by ASO News Network, show the tragedy of civilians who suffered pain during the period of ISIS rule, realistic novels and stories that express the extent of terrorism and extremism in affecting the structure of society.

“Back from death”

A series of testimonies from the heart of the tragedy… Civilians who died under ISIS rule in North-East Syria

A series of special reports produced by the ASO News Network, published for the first time consecutively, highlighting the terrible violations that the city of Tabqa witnessed during the period of ISIS control.

Horrific stories from eyewitnesses who lived through the terrorist organization’s nightmare, where families were subjected to the harshest types of physical and psychological torture; From humiliating punishments that waste human dignity, to dark prisons from which only a few emerge alive, and ending with the destruction of schools and turning them into death factories.

We share with you these living testimonies to highlight the extent of the suffering and pain, and to present a true picture of what happened during that dark period.
All rights reserved to ASO News Network
Northeast Syria 2024

From Al-Tapqa written by: Hassan Al-Ahmad

One of the greatest harassments that people were subjected to in ISIS-controlled areas in Syria was their complete isolation from the outside world. The organization cut off all forms of communication and the Internet in an attempt to conceal the massacres and violations it committed against the people in those areas.

The organization restricted the Internet and the Wi-Fi network to a narrow range, without transmitting devices beyond the limits of the Internet hall, which was licensed by security personnel so that they could strictly monitor it. These halls were like horror rooms inside the city or village, where simply talking or communicating with the outside world in areas controlled by the organization was fraught with danger, and could lead a person to ISIS prisons, and sometimes to execution on charges of collaborating.

Abdullah Al-Hajji (a pseudonym), a resident of Tabqa who lived during the days of ISIS control, confirms that the Internet lounge was like someone entering a place from which he might not exit, due to the frequent raids carried out by the so-called “security personnel.” The employment charge did not require more than a WhatsApp message or photo that was received by mistake, for the person to be charged with communicating with foreign parties. Therefore, Abdullah and many others refrained from going to those terrifying halls, because all forms of communication, whether cellular or landline, were cut off from the city.

Horror lounge
Abdullah describes the Internet lounge as being a small room that could accommodate only one person, containing a single chair, and covered in front by a curtain that made it easier for security personnel to suddenly seize the mobile phone from the person’s hand. “They would search mobile phones without any regard for privacy. They would go directly to chat programs to find out who the phone owner was communicating with, and then go to the photo gallery.

Many people were executed because of what was found on their mobile phones.” The speech is by Abdullah Al-Hajji.

ISIS justified these arbitrary measures by not allowing penetration into the area and the spread of spies, while its members in their headquarters enjoyed a permanently open Internet connection. Despite all these measures, the organization was infiltrated from within the organization to a greater extent by the indigenous population, and this did not prevent the implementation of security and intelligence operations against it in areas under its control, whether in Iraq or Syria, despite its tight security grip.

The organization was leaving sufficient space for its leaders and members to use the Internet, while preventing it from the people, but this did not protect the organization from penetration, as many of its members were a source of penetration for the organization.

Isolation with controlled communications…
Traditional means of communication were not available, so the organization’s areas of control were completely isolated from the outside world. The organization completely dismantled and stole the towers of telecommunications companies such as Syriatel and MTN. It also stopped the terrestrial communications network and maintained only internal communications within their areas by disabling the external communications feature.

A former employee at Tabqa Post Office told ASO News Network that ISIS had cut off external and internal communication within the country from the main exchange at the landline post office in the city of Tabqa, which was located in the basement of a building that was completely destroyed as a result of its use by the organization as an operations room before the area was liberated.

Umm Ahmed, who is also a resident of Tabqa, says that contact with her children traveling in Lebanon was completely cut off during the period of ISIS control, due to the cessation of all forms of communication. She received news of her children through some of her relatives who used to go to the Internet lounge.

Umm Ahmed describes those days as being filled with sadness due to the distance of her children and the loss of contact with them, which made her in constant fear for them. Likewise, her children believed that they would not be able to communicate with their mother and their families as long as ISIS controlled the region and cut off all forms of contact and communication with them. So, the mother just cried and prayed that God would protect them.

The organization contributed to isolating the communities it controls from the outside world, by creating great anxiety among the population under its control to know the news of their relatives, and for relatives abroad to not know the news of their families. This was part of the organization’s ideology, which tightens its grip on the people and tries to isolate the outside world from its reality for fear of leakage. The violations and difficult circumstances that society was going through.