A journalist claims that a terrorist was caught fleeing Syria in a pink dress. Or is this an example of the Turkish military humiliating its prisoners?
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
ISIS militants have a long, proud tradition of cutting their beards and running to Europe the moment they see an approaching Russian bomber.
But are terrorists in Syria now dressing up as women in an attempt to shield themselves from justice?
A journalist from Turkey's conservative daily, New Dawn, claims that Turkish soldiers in Syria recently captured a militant attempting to flee in a pink party dress:
Suriye'de Fırat Kalkanı Harekatı tüm hızıyla devam ederken, Türk askeri operasyon sırasında pembe elbise giyen DEAŞ'lı bir terörist yakaladı pic.twitter.com/LgZlGrdRlC
— Burak Doğan (@doganburak29)February 24, 2017
Assuming this photo shows what the journalist claims, this certainly wouldn't be the first time that ISIS militants or other terrorists have attempted to “blend in” with the crowd.
In August, a top ISIS commander in Northern Afghanistan was captured in a dress as he attempted to escape government troops.
We've witnessed a similar display of cowardice in Syria.
After Russia began its air campaign in September 2015, multiple reports emerged of ISIS militants shaving their beards and fleeing to Turkey:
Let's shave...
Photo apparently showing left over beards shaved off by rebels running 4m #Syria. pic.twitter.com/RJ3DVOJ8YR— Hala Jaber (@HalaJaber)October 12, 2015
More recently, Syrian, Iranian and Russian forces found mounds of hair in the streets as they pushed Al Nusra and their moderate friends out of Aleppo:
The hair of the shaved beards of the terrorist scum who exited #Aleppo. A photo that was taken in the old city of #Aleppo #Syria pic.twitter.com/3Lzw0qX1Qs
— maytham (@maytham956)December 9, 2016
But is this pink part dress photograph genuine? One would expect a terrorist to wear a Niqab, or at least something that would cover more of his body, if he was attempting to escape detection. So this could be a rather public display of Turkish soldiers humiliating a prisoner.
On the other hand, we're not so sure if the Turkish military keeps a stash of red party dresses. But who knows. Besides, there's a long precedent of terrorist cowards trying to flee Syria undetected. Shaving your legs and bolting for the border is not out of the ordinary for these people.
So this is either a magnificent example of how pathetic ISIS truly is, or a case study in Turkish hospitality.
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
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