Tania Joya, the 'First Lady of ISIS' in the U.S., hopes to help those who are brainwashed by extremism through her own stories.
Tania Joya, a 33-year-old British woman who was once referred to the "First Lady of ISIS" in the United States, marries the U.S. extremist John Georgelas in 2004. Unexpectedly Georgelas becomes more extreme and even "wants to be the next Bin Laden", which led her to decide to leave with four children.
Joya met Georgelas on a Muslim dating site and then they decided to get married because they shared the same ideal. "Our dream is to have a piece of land, to form a family, to train our children to become assassins or warriors, and finally to join the holy war," She said.
After that, they took their children to Egypt and some other countries. They joined ISIS in Syria in 2013 and the children received various training. But at that moment, she felt that her husband's spirits on ISIS was too strong for her to bear.
She thinks that Georgelas wanted to be "the next bin Laden", so she decided to divorce her husband and leave with her children. Finally, they return to Texas to start a new life. She completely changed her way of life, stopping believing in Islam, giving up reading the Koran, and starting a course in philosophy and spiritual growth.
She had shared her own experiences on the internet and drew many attentions. She said she was abandoned by her husband who wanted to become a "bin Laden" and raised her four children. Now, She has a new boyfriend, Craig, a software engineer.
Joya hopes to share her story and helps those who are also affected by extremism. "I want to tell them that they can choose their own lives. They have many different choices," she said.
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — A humanitarian crisis is worsening in northeastern Mali where armed groups linked to Islamic State have besieged major towns leaving residents including some 80,000 children vulnerable to malnutrition, locals and an aid group warned Wednesday.
The town of Ménaka has been under siege for four months, driving up the prices of food. Other essential goods like medication are increasingly hard to find, residents and aid groups say.
“The humanitarian situation is catastrophic, with displaced people going from house to house asking for food for their families. Children are threatened with starvation,” Wani Ould Hamadi, deputy mayor of the town of Ménaka, told the Associated Press.
Mali, along with its neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for over a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. Following military coups in all three nations in recent years, the ruling juntas have expelled French forces and turned to Russia’s mercenary units for security assistance instead.
Col. Assimi Goita, who took charge in Mali after a second coup in 2021, promised to beat back the armed groups, but the United Nations and other analysts say the government has rapidly lost ground.
The aid group Save the Children said some 80,000 children were trapped inside the town of Ménaka facing malnutrition and disease, and many were unaccompanied having fled violence elsewhere..
“Children in Menaka are trapped in a living nightmare. Let us be clear: unless the blockade is lifted , starvation and disease will led to deaths,” Siaka Ouattara, the country director, said in a statement.
Ayouba Ag Nadroun, a man who fled to Ménaka to escape violence in other parts of the country said he was unable to provide for his extended family of some 15 members, including many women and children, and surviving on scarce handouts of aid. “I have no job, how can I help them?” he told the AP.
“The blockades subject villagers to violence, hunger and fear and have long been a tactic used by these jihadist groups to punish communities for their perceived support of the government,” said Sahel analyst Corinne Dufka adding that they had often succeeded in pressuring the communities to sign non-aggression accords with the groups.
Mali's leader, Goita, has promised to return the country to democracy in early 2024. But in September, the junta canceled elections scheduled for February 2024 indefinitely, citing the need for further technical preparations.
Last month, his ruling junta ordered all political activities to stop, and the following day ordered the media to stop reporting on political activities.
Armed groups besieging towns in northeastern Mali driving residents, many children, to hunger
Armed groups besieging towns in northeastern Mali driving residents, many children, to hunger
In this 2018 photograph released by Mouvement pour le Salut de l'Azawad, Islamic State group commander Abu Huzeifa, known by the alias Higgo, poses in uniform. Mali's army said in a statement late Monday, April 29, 2024, that Huzeifa was killed by Malian state forces. The United States had announced a reward of up to $5 million reward for anyone providing information about him. Huzeifa was believed to have helped carry out an attack in 2017 on U.S. and Nigerien forces in Tongo Tongo, Niger, which led to the deaths of four Americans and four Nigerien soldiers. (AP Photo)
