Freed from ISIS but not from fear

(CNN)Even when Iraqi villages are liberated from the grip of ISIS, the people who live there don't feel entirely safe.

Two days after the Iraqi army's 9th Division freed seven small towns in southern Nineveh province, a CNN crew encountered a bunch of terrified residents of Adla, who fled in a hurry when they heard ISIS might be coming back.

One woman, who left without even putting on her shoes, said she heard that ISIS militants had re-emerged from the orchards.

Most of the residents of the village, which is about 50 kilometers southeast of Mosul near the Great Zab River, were still in fear of the militant Islamist group.

Women told CNN that for several years ISIS would emerge every day and ask villagers whether they had guns or cellphones, killing whoever had one. They killed people who smoked.





One woman said the villagers were starved.

More than 200 of them fled Tuesday.

One man told CNN he hadn't heard gunfire but heard the rumor of an ISIS counterattack and didn't want to take any chances.

Kurdish and Iraqi commanders told CNN there were no reports from their men of ISIS fighters.
After waiting on a barren, dusty berm for some time, the residents finally headed back to the village. Still scared, but ready to be home again.


http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/18/middleeast/iraqi-villagers-flee/index.html