On recent events, Kurdish Special Forces rescued a 16-year-old Swedish girl from the Islamic State militants in Iraq. The girl explained the situation she was enduring was “really hard” and that her boyfriend tricked her into joining the Islamic State.

The teenager said in an interview that life in Iraq and under the Islamic State is hard. She also said she was 15 and pregnant when her boyfriend asked her to join him on a journey to Iraq. Then, the Swedish teenager dropped out of school and joined her boyfriend in a journey taking them through Europe, Turkey, Syria and finally Mosul, Iraq.

“First it was good together, but then he started to look at IS videos and speak about them and stuff like that,” said the Swedish girl rescued from Iraq. “Then he said he wanted to go to IS and I said ‘Ok, no problem,’ because I did not know what IS meant or what Islam was, nothing.”

On recent events, Kurdish Special Forces rescued a 16-year-old Swedish girl from the Islamic State militants in Iraq. Photo credit: Sky News
On recent events, Kurdish Special Forces rescued a 16-year-old Swedish girl from the Islamic State militants in Iraq. Photo credit: Sky News

In recent years, at least 300 Swedes are believed to have joined IS willingly. The young couple is believed to have started their journey in late May 2015 as they made their way across Europe by bus and train. The Islamic State also provided them with shelter as they gave the couple a house for them to live in.

However, the house provided by the IS militants lacked basic services as electricity and running water. According to Kurdish authorities, Special Forces rescued the teenage girl on February 17 and she’s currently waiting for Swedish authorities to take her home in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.

Loose ends

The rescue plan started when her mother contacted Swedish official, who notified Kurdish authorities and in turn could save the teenager’s life, according to the Kurdistan Region Security Council. Still, the whereabouts of the teenager’s boyfriend or her baby are unknown for the moments. During the interview with the Kurdistan Council there’s was no mention of the Swedish girl’s boyfriend or her baby.

The girl expressed on a statement how she felt while not having anything. She said she did not have any money and when she finally had a phone in her hands, she contacted her mother and told her she wanted to go home.

She also thanked the Kurdish Special Forces for their effort and success in taking her home to safety at the end of the interview. The girl showed her appreciation to the Kurdish authorities and said she’s happy to see her family once again and “have a happy life.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35650620