12 Things ISIS Fighters Abandoned Before They Fled

Tanks, blindfolds, niqabs and mass graves.

By
Matthew Tucker
by Matthew Tucker

BuzzFeed Picture Editor, UK

With its self-proclaimed caliphate in decline, ISIS fighters are fleeing villages and towns in Syria and Iraq following a ground offensive that began last fall. Reuters photographers have been documenting these former ISIS strongholds as the group continues to lose territory. Here are some of the things they found abandoned by the fighters.

1. A tank

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

In Qaraqosh, east of Mosul. Nov. 8, 2016.

2. A safe

Khalil Ashawi / Reuters

Inside a cash collection center in Turkman Bareh village, in northern Aleppo. Oct. 7, 2016.

3. A sword

Zohra Bensemra / Reuters

An Iraqi soldier who found the sword in Intisar district in Mosul said the weapon was similar to the ones used by ISIS for beheadings. Nov. 6, 2016.

4. Prisoners' blankets

Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters

Clothes, blankets and sealed windows at a location used as women's prison in Mosul. Jan. 23, 2017.

5. Satellite dishes

Khalil Ashawi / Reuters

Damaged dishes inside a mosque in Turkman Bareh village.

6. Bags of Niqabs

Rodi Said / Reuters

Used by ISIS religious police, in Manbij, Aleppo. Aug. 16, 2016.

7. Blindfolds

Rodi Said / Reuters

A prison in Manbij, Aleppo. Aug. 17, 2016.

8. Containers for making explosives

Rodi Said / Reuters

Manbij, Aleppo Governorate, Syria, Aug. 17, 2016.

9. A mass grave

Khalid Al Mousily / Reuters

In Fallujah, Iraq. Sept. 4, 2016.

10. Burned cages

Thaier Al-sudani / Reuters

ISIS has used such cages to burn their captives alive. In Fallujah, Iraq. June 27, 2016.

11. A sofa

Thaier Al-sudani / Reuters

Hammam al-Ali, Mosul. Nov. 7, 2016.

12. Homemade mortars

Azad Lashkari / Reuters

Gwer, northern Iraq. Aug. 31, 2016.

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