LGBT unit takes on IS in Raqqa
NEW DELHI: International volunteers battling the Islamic State in Syria have formed a new unit of L GB T people to take on A bu Ba kr al-Baghdadi’s terror group, which has targeted the community for execution by stoning and being thrown off rooftops.
The formation of The Queer Insurrection and Liberation Army (TQILA), pronounced as tequila, was announced on T witter by the International Revolutionary People’ s Guerrilla Forces (IRPGF) on Monday, complete witha photo ofa rainbow flag flying in Raqqa, at the centre of the IS’ so-called caliphate.
These foreign fighters include students, former soldiers and even white collar workers who gave up lucrative jobs in the West to take on the IS.
The IS has been particularly vicious in targeting L GB T people. Since it established its so-called caliphate, it has issued a stream of videos and images depicting the execution of men accused of homosexuality by stoning and being thrown off the roofs of mu lti-s to rey buildings.
The courts of the IS have also declared that homosexuality is punishable by death and dozens of L GB T people have fled Iraq and Syria to escape persecution by the group.
“TQILA’s members have watched in horror as fascist and extremist forces around the world have attacked the Queer community and murdered countless of our community members citing that they are ‘ill’, ‘sick’ and ‘unnatural’,” a statement by the group said.