ISIS threatens shop owners in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor

UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) on Thursday reported that ISIS cells have sent threatening messages to the owners of shops, including money exchange shops.

The messages warn the shop owners to pay the “zakat” (Islamic tax) or face consequences by ISIS cells.

The messages sent through Whatsapp from non-Syrian foreign numbers have created a great fear among the people who have put up leaflets in Al-Hawaij and Dhiban in the eastern countryside of Deir ez-Zor, the SOHR report said.

The new threat of ISIS cells comes amidst increasing ISIS attacks in areas held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian government in the New Year.

Last year, ISIS cells also spread fear among civilians in Deir ez-Zor by spreading posters on walls, mosques, and electricity poles threatening civilians if they fail to pay the ‘zakat’.

Moreover, ISIS have stepped activities in disputed territories in Iraq.

Source » kurdistan24.net