Syria: Raqqa Children Tormented by Beheading, Bombs
Local Editor
Children escaping Syria's Raqqa have been "tormented" by years of living under terrorist rule culminating in a ferocious bombing campaign on the city, a charity said on Monday.
It could take decades for young people from Daesh's [the Arabic acronym for the Takfiri ISIS/ISIL group] stronghold to overcome their psychological injuries, Save the Children warned.
The NGO interviewed children and their families who escaped the war-torn city, where an offensive is underway to defeat Daesh.
"Raqqa's children might look normal on the outside but inside many are tormented by what they've seen," said the NGO's Syria director Sonia Khush.
"The children of Raqqa didn't ask for the nightmares and memories of seeing loved ones die right in front of them."
Raashida, 13, fled with her family three months ago to a displacement camp north of Raqqa.
"Daesh beheaded people and left their bodies on the ground. We saw this and I couldn't handle it," she said.
"I wanted to sleep but I couldn't when I remembered what I saw. And I wouldn't sleep - I would stay awake because of how scared I was."
Since Daesh overran Raqqa in early 2014, the city became synonymous with the group's horrifying practices: public beheadings, stoning and Takfiri propaganda in schools.
Raashida's father Aoun said he tried to keep his children away from such sights, but they slowly became accustomed to the macabre scenes.
"There is nothing called 'children' anymore, we are all in a living hell now," he said.
Meanwhile, up to 25,000 people - almost half of them children - remain trapped in Raqqa as US-backed forces tighten the noose on Daesh.
Save the Children warned that heavy coalition bombardment left families "facing an impossible decision: stay and risk being bombed or leave and risk being shot at by ISIL or stepping on a landmine".
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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