ERBIL, Kurdistan Region--Leader of the al-Tay tribe pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) while living in the so-called caliphate and vowed to actively fight the Kurdish Peshmerga. He later retracted his pledge especially as Kurdish forces arrived in his region. His current anti-ISIS rhetoric has caused controversy on social media networks.
Currently living in Erbil, Sheikh Sifug al-Hanash al-Tay talks to Rudaw about his previous pledge to ISIS, claiming, “I notified Erbil and Baghdad before I joined the ISIS meeting and pledging allegiance to them. ‘We would do the same if we were in your position’, I was told by Baghdad, with Erbil telling me to ‘go’ for it”.
In this interview, Sheikh Sifug discloses important information regarding ISIS in its Mosul stronghold.
Rudaw: You previously pledged allegiance to ISIS, vowing to fight against the Peshmerga, and are now here in Erbil. How did this happen?
Sheikh Sifug: The Islamic State informed me that I had to be present at the office for the ISIS-affiliated tribes the following day by 9am. The president of the office was called ‘Mutab’. People were calling him ‘Abu Ajel’. There were other tribe leaders at the office when I arrived there, nearly 100 of them.
‘Are you Sifug Tay’, I was asked. ‘Yes’, I replied. They asked me to talk about the Rawafiz, Hashd al-Shaabi, Shiites, and the Peshmerga. God can vouch for my words. I didn’t even know who Rawafiz were. After all, a third of our tribe is Shiite [Sunnis], so how can I talk about the Peshmerga? I spoke under duress and death threats. The person leading the meeting had his rifle ready on the table. He was accompanied by four big masked militants with their guns ready to fire. I was forced to speak this way.
Who was the ISIS man who talked to you?
It was a man with arms like these [pointing to his arms]. He was very forceful, asking me to talk through these subjects. Before I went over for the meeting, I telephoned someone from Kurdistan Region’s Security Directorate with whom I had contact, informing him that ISIS had asked me to talk about the Peshmerga. ‘I want you to be aware of this in advance, that ISIS wants me to speak against the Peshmerga the way they want’, I said to him.
He told me to go and speak to them, telling me that he would take responsibility for this. I also talked to a close friend of Iraq’s National Security Advisor Falih Fayaz, telling him that ISIS had asked us that we talk about these matters. ‘We too would talk this way if we were in your position’, he told me.
I want to say that the Anasha family has not pledged allegiance to ISIS. No one from us has carried weapons against the Peshmerga or the Iraqi Army. No one from us could stand against ISIS. Can someone like me stand against ISIS while 50 thousand military and police personnel flee in the face of 200 ISIS militants?
How did ISIS treat you?
Their treatment was extremely bad with us. We had a mosque at Wahda district in Mosul where my grandfather Sheikh Anash and my father were buried. The Islamic State ordered that we remove their graves, or they would demolish the mosque. We eventually had to remove their graves. They took my son and lashed him 40 times because his gown was long. I had a defunct petrol station for which they asked me to pay an annual 12 million Iraqi Dinars. My sons, cousins and I were arrested for 22 days after my brother Abu Ahmed fled to Kurdistan. They brought in a cutting machine telling me, ‘We will cut you into pieces if you do not tell us how your brother fled. Why haven’t you educated your brother in a way to accept the Islamic caliphate?’ I contacted Kurdistan Region after we were released, asking them to let us in. Their response was, ‘welcome’. We have been here for two weeks now. Thank God we can sleep well here. There is no fear here.
The text of Sheikh Sifug’s allegiance to ISIS
We have been going through difficult times. We are completely behind the Islamic State. We will fight the enemies. We will fight the Rawafiz and the Peshmerga. We are practically behind you. See what we will be doing. All our tribe members have the same stance. We will not accept the Peshmerga, Iraqi Army or Hashdi al-Shaabi to trespass on our territory” Sheikh Sifug declares during his pledge of allegiance to ISIS. 
How did you come to Kurdistan Region?
We walked 13 kilometers all the way through Azar town heading to Gwer where the Peshmerga were aware of our journey. They welcomed us there.
Did you see any ISIS militant of Kurdish origin in Mosul?
Yes. There were Kurdish-ISIS militants in the prison where I was jailed, mostly from Halabja. There was also a Kurdish militant, with long hair, from Sulaimani who was known as ‘Abu Turab’. I even spoke to him. But he was reluctant to talk.
Were the ISIS leaders in Mosul from Iraq?
Yes, they were from Iraq. Mosul’s first governor (wali) was Razwan al-Amduni who was later killed. Then a Jiburi from Gayara was appointed governor, who was later removed and replaced by Shakir al-Hamdani. He too was removed after a while. The position was then taken by Abu Ahmed al-Ayali, who is still governor of Mosul.
Governors were demoted to fighters if they were to make a mistake. The decision to remove or appoint someone governor was vested with Abu Bakir al-Baghdadi.
What were the circumstances under which ISIS was killing the people of Mosul?
A large number of ISIS militants are affiliated with intelligence agencies of the regional countries which are behind the creation of ISIS. These ISIS militants would kill pilots, officers, military commanders, and tribe leaders for whatever countries they want to collude with.
Tribe leaders killed by ISIS include: Ghanim Sabhawi, leader of the Sabhawi tribe, Mohamed Jasim al-Abud, leader of the Abada tribe, Rashid al-Zaydan, leader of the al-hit tribe, Talal al-Khalidi, leader of the Khawalid tribe, Most current ISIS leaders are from Talaafar.
What do the people of Mosul say about Mosul operation?
People are awaiting the arrival of the Peshmerga and the Iraqi Army. They would rise up against ISIS upon their arrival. There are some small operations against ISIS in Mosul. But the big fight will erupt upon the arrival of the Iraqi Army in the city. Most people from Mosul have guns, but hidden them. Military pay was 700 thousand Iraqi Dinars before ISIS seized the city, now it is only 60 thousand. Had it not been for fear of their lives, most people from Mosul who are now ISIS militants would leave ISIS.
The Islamic State is digging big tunnels, making weapons, and has military planning. It’s said that this is done through help from former Iraqi military officers who served under the Ba’ath regime. Is this true?
One of my brothers is a former Iraqi officer. He himself is here. He took part in the 8-year war between Iraq and Iran. The Iraqi Army was not digging tunnels back then. It is done through foreign fighters who would also do the military planning for them. It is true that some former Iraqi officers on Weapons Proliferation Body are now working for ISIS and are getting paid well. ISIS is continuously digging tunnels. We could hear the noise of the drillers they were using to build tunnels during the night.
Most people, including me, in Mosul are now asking why ISIS is able to carry out explosions in Germany, France, USA, Turkey, and Kurdistan Region, but not in Iran. How could ISIS not reach Iran, when it is able reach France? People now know the answer. The first to suffer the ISIS destruction were the Sunnis.
Turkey wants to participate in the operation to liberate Mosul, something rejected by Iraq. What do people from Mosul think about this? Do they want Turkey to take part in this operation?
Why should the USA, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Iran be entitled to take part in this operation, but not Turkey? Why the USA, which is thousands of miles away from here, would be allowed to participate in the operation, but not a neighboring country like Turkey. This is a political subject, and Iraq’s stance on this matter is hypocritical. See what Hashdi Shaabi has done to Anbar, flattening the city, kidnapping thousands of Sunnis whose fate remains unclear. We saw Hashdi Shaabi beheading hundreds of Sunnis in Faluja.
What eccentricities have you witnessed with ISIS?
The Islamic State has done nothing normal. Do you know what a roller is? They would put people on the street and crush them with rollers. They drop off people on towering buildings; the insurance building in Mosul was used by ISIS for this purpose. This is aside from burning people and blowing them up. This has never been done at any phase in history. I do not think anyone would do these things, other than ISIS. People fear ISIS more than they fear God.
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