Sema
Chechen woman known as “Um Hussein al-Chechenia,” the wife of a senior ISIS leader, revealed shocking details about the enslavement of Ezidi women by members of the terrorist organization, confirming that these acts of slavery indeed took place and describing them as inhumane.
In an interview with the Saudi news channel “Al Arabiya,” she said: “I saw videos of the Ezidi captives, and I imagined myself in their place. I felt what happened to them was inhumane. If I had been in their position, I wouldn’t have been able to bear it for even a moment.”
She added that she did not meet any Ezidi women until early 2019 and that initially, she only heard rumors about the enslavement without witnessing it or knowing the full details.
Al-Chechenia confirmed that the enslavement of Ezidi women was real and not just propaganda or rumors, as some ISIS supporters tried to claim. “In 2019, I met a Ezidi captive, and at that point, I realized that what we had heard about those crimes was true,” she said.
Before her arrest, Um Hussein was married to Abdullah Maki Musleh Al-Rifai, known as “Abu Khadija,” who became the leader of ISIS in Iraq and globally after the death of former ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He was killed in a joint operation by U.S. and Iraqi forces in mid-March in the city of Anbar, Iraq.
Um Hussein al-Chechenia was captured in a security operation carried out by Iraqi forces following the death of her husband in an airstrike conducted by U.S. forces in coordination with Iraqi troops in the Rutba district of Anbar province.