ISIS Says It's Burning Marijuana Fields in Syria

Soft Secrets
28 Aug 2014

Militants claim they discovered the farm after having captured Akhtarin from Free Syrian Army


Militants claim they discovered the farm after having captured Akhtarin from Free Syrian Army

SOURCE: www.huffingtonpost.com
AUTHOR: Charlotte Alfred

The Islamic State militant group released a video on Tuesday purporting to show its fighters burning down a marijuana field in a town it captured in north Syria.

In the clip, which appears to be shot in the town of Akhtarin and was uploaded to YouTube by an ISIS supporter on Tuesday, the fighters denounce the evils of drug-taking, before appearing to chop down bushes and setting them ablaze.

The militants claim they discovered the farm after having captured Akhtarin from the Free Syrian Army, a rival group of opposition fighters in Syria, in recent weeks. The militants claim the farm owner fled over the nearby border with Turkey.

Syria Deeply reported in July that some farmers in north Syria have turned to pot-growing in a desperate bid to make an income amidst Syria's devastating civil war.

But the farmers have come under threat from radical Islamist fighters, such as the militants of the Islamic State, who consider drugs against Islamic law.

The Islamic State group, earlier known as ISIS, is known to impose a harsh interpretation of Islamic law in areas under its control in Iraq and Syria, and has banned cigarettes, alcohol and drugs. A United Nations commission said on Wednesday that the group's systematic abuse of civilians, including public executions and training child fighters, may amount to crimes against humanity.

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