ISIS resurgence | Cells kidnap merchant in Hasakeh countryside, as he refuses to pay zakat

SOHR activists say that gunmen, believed to be members of the Islamic State, have kidnapped a cattle merchant yesterday, after the gunmen chased him near the town of Tal al-Jaer, south of Hasaka, and took him to an unknown location.

It is worth nothing that cells of the Islamic State threatened him earlier to force him to pay the zakat, which he refused to do.

ISIS cells are scattered throughout SDF-held areas, while they are active in the Deir ez-Zor countryside. Yesterday, gunmen, pretended to be ISIS members, opened fire on the house of a displaced civilian from Idlib working in a pastry shop in Al-Busayrah city in the eastern countryside of Dier Ezzor. The gunmen asked the civilian to pay a sum of money as “zakat”.

On November 17, reliable sources informed SOHR that cells affiliated with the Islamic State recently increased their activities, demanding people living in Al-Busayrah city in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor pay “zakat”, by sending threatening messages to civilians in the region via “WhatsApp”.