Video footage filmed by Kurdish troops in which a young jihadi recruit sobs and says he wasn’t going to blow himself up has emerged from near Isis’ de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria.
The US-backed and largely Kurdish coalition Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) launched a new campaign last month to drive the extremists from the northern Syrian city.
The operation is designed to dovetail with the offensive to retake Mosul over the border in Iraq. The two cities are Isis’ last major strongholds after a succession of heavily military losses over the last few months.
In the footage obtained by Kurdish media agency ANF from the SDF, the Isis recruit and his Kurdish interrogators have some difficulty understanding each other, but he manages to tell them he was running away from Isis and was not planning on using the explosives he was carrying in a bag.
He is questioned further over his position in the organisation, where he was stationed, and for the name of his commander, while tears flow down his face.
The incident reportedly took place in the early hours of Tuesday.
Operation Euphrates Wrath to retake Raqqa is now in its second phrase. Despite heavy counterattacks from Isis, SDF units have managed to advance on the west of the city, with the eventual aim of cutting it off completely.
