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Kurdish youth no longer joining ISIS, says regional government

By Khalid al-Taie

Worshipers pray during a religious ceremony at al-Ijaaz mosque in Erbil. Kurdish region authorities announced that no young men from their region have joined the 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria' in almost two years. [Photo courtesy of the Higher Religious Media Council]

Worshipers pray during a religious ceremony at al-Ijaaz mosque in Erbil. Kurdish region authorities announced that no young men from their region have joined the 'Islamic State of Iraq and Syria' in almost two years. [Photo courtesy of the Higher Religious Media Council]

The Kurdish region's government on Tuesday (June 27th) said it has not recorded any cases of Kurdish youth joining the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) in almost two years.

Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs spokesman Mariwan Naqshbandi told Diyaruna that ISIS recruitment of youth from the Kurdish region was at its peak between 2013 and 2014.

"At that time, ISIS managed to deceive and lure a large number of young men," he said.

"Some 500 young men aged between 13 and 25 joined the terrorists -- including some who were married and took their wives and children with them," he said.

About 300 of those recruits have been killed in the liberation battles being waged against ISIS, he said, while 150 "have either surrendered or were arrested by the Kurdish forces [Peshmerga] and are now detained in the Kurdish region's prisons".

"As for the rest, we do not know their fate and whether they are still alive and fighting with ISIS, or have been killed."

"Since mid-2015, we have not recorded any cases of Kurdish youth from the region joining ISIS or other extremist groups," Naqshbandi said.

Countering recruitment

In early 2015, the ministry of endowment formed, in co-operation with the ministries of culture, interior and Peshmerga in the region, a joint work committee tasked with confronting all terrorist activities.

The committee focused on terrorist recruitment efforts in particular, Naqshbandi said, and organised rehabilitation courses for imprisoned young men.

"The goal was to correct the concepts and perceptions the terrorists tried to instill in their minds," he said.

"We achieved positive results and managed to guide them back to the right path through advice and religious guidance," he said.

The government urged all mosque preachers in the Kurdish region -- about 3,000 mosques -- to focus during Friday sermons and religious lectures on promoting tolerance and moderation.

"We completely banned the promotion of extremist ideology and imposed harsh penalties for circulating any books or leaflets, or engaging in any activities inciting violence or terrorism," he added.

"We believe we have succeeded in reaching our goals, but will continue with our efforts," he said.

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