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Islamic State took 17 of my family to the hills and shot them

November 20, 2014 11:04
Kurdish mother at a Kobani solidarity rally

ByOrlando Radice, Orlando Radice

1 min read

Sitting in a London restaurant, the Kurdish man across the table is talking without blinking.

In a soft voice, Bektas says: "If I didn't have a family here, I would go home tomorrow and kill Daish [Arabic for Islamic State]."

Six weeks ago, 17 members of his extended family were murdered by the fundamentalist group terrorising the Middle East.

IS militants had been driving north towards Kobani - the Kurdish city in Syria that has been under attack by jihadis since September 16 - and stopped in the village where Bektas's family lived.