By F. Brinley Bruton
Raising doves and pigeons is a deadly pursuit in ISIS-controlled Iraq.
The popular hobby is in the sights of extremist Islamist fighters, who this week rounded up 15 boys and young men in the eastern province of Diyala for pursuing a pastime now deemed un-Islamic. Three have already been executed, according to a security official in the area who spoke to NBC News on condition of anonymity.
Abu Abdullah, a 52-year-old farmer, told NBC News about the moment earlier this week that six gunmen barged into his home and dragged away his oldest son, who is 21.
"My son was standing beside me. I asked them why, and they said, 'He is not following the real Islam, he must be punished for being a pigeon breeder. This habit is taking him away from worshiping Allah," Abdullah said on the telephone.
The fighters put the household's pigeons in bags and burned them. Then they took away his son.
"I begged them again to know where are they taking him, what are they going to do to him. They said he is going to be taken to be judged according to the Islamic Sharia," Abu Abdullah said. "They pushed me, and when my son tried to stop them from pushing me they beat him. Then they put him inside the car and left."
"I begged them, but I was begging criminals not, as they claimed, Muslims," he said.
This story was repeated throughout the village as fighters rounded up men and boys aged 16 to 22, and destroyed their birds.
ISIS has imposed its hardline interpretation of Islam on the areas it now controls, forcing women to wear all-enveloping coverings and men to pray five times a day. Often, those who fall foul of its rules are executed in public.
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ISIS Executes Pigeon and Bird Breeders in Diyala, Iraq ...