BEIRUT: The militant Islamic State group, IS has enforced an “Afghan-style” dress code on men in a Syrian town, Raqa to help its fighters blend into the civilian population, a monitor and activists said on Monday.
“For more than two weeks, Afghan-style clothing… has been imposed by Daesh,” said Abu Mohamed, an activist with the “Raqa is Being Slaughtered Silently” group, using the Arabic acronym for IS.
“Anyone who does not comply faces prison and a fine,” he said.
The new restriction comes as a Kurdish-Arab alliance of fighters nears Raqa, backed by the US-led coalition launching air strikes against IS.
The rule “is an attempt to make it harder for aeroplanes and the Kurdish forces… to distinguish between civilians and Daesh members,” Abu Mohamed said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor of the war, also reported the new rule in Raqa.
“The Islamic State has imposed Afghan-style dress on residents of Raqa so that informants giving coordinates to the US-led coalition will not be able to distinguish between civilians and fighters,” Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
Abu Mohamed said there was a “state of alert” in Raqa, with new checkpoints springing up and IS arresting anyone who describes the situation as dire.
“Prices are skyrocketing and there is no electricity or water,” he added.
The Observatory also said civilians and the families of IS fighters were attempting to flee into Raqa province from neighbouring Aleppo, where IS is under assault in the east.
