I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mekhennet

My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad

I was told to come alone. I was not to carry any identification and would have to leave my cell phone, audio recorder, watch, and purse at my hotel in Antakya, Turkey. All I could bring were a notebook and a pen. In return, I wanted to speak to someone in authority, someone who could explain the long-term strategy of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or ISIS. It was the summer of 2014, three weeks before the group became a household name by releasing a video of the beheading of the American journalist James Foley. Even then, I suspected that ISIS would become an important player in the world of global jihad. As a journalist covering Islamic militancy across Europe and the Middle East for the New York Times, major German news outlets, and now the Washington Post, I had watched the group take shape in the world […]

I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mekhennet
I Was Told to Come Alone: My Journey Behind the Lines of Jihad by Souad Mekhennet