Residents of Mosul worry their worst fears are coming true about Islamic extremists that overran the city following the bombing of the so-called Tomb of Jonah, a mosque and Muslim holy site in Iraq’s second-largest city. ISIS, the Sunni insurgency that has taken control, blew up the site, believed to be the burial place of the Prophet Jonah, earlier Friday after ordering visitors out of the building.
Following the explosion, resident Abu Abdullah told NBC News, "in the beginning we were so happy to get rid of the government, but yesterday it was like a turning point ... Now most of the people who welcomed ISIS started to think more deeply, to think of what ISIS would do in the future." A former Iraqi officer who lives in Mosul also said, “Allah spared Jonah’s life from the whale to be killed by ISIS.” Friday’s bombing is the latest example of ISIS clamping down on residents. The radical Muslim group earlier forced Muslim clerics in the city to broadcast orders that women wear full-face veils or confront punishment, Reuters reported. Shopkeepers have also been asked to veil mannequins in store windows throughout the city.
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— Jacob Passy
