London: "I made my little steps ... I was trembling. Nervous. Scared..." Shams' breathless prose reads like a trashy romance novel, as she describes every tiny detail of her first meeting with her husband-to-be.
"After [a] few minutes, I flipped my Niqab. He looked at me, our eyes [caught] each other's. I had palpitation[s] faster than the speed of light.
"He smiled. And he asked a question that I shall never forget for the rest of my life. 'Can we get married today?'"
But this is no stereotypical fairy tale, and there's no "happily ever after" ending.
It's a dispatch from Shams, a woman who calls herself the "Bird of Jannah" and runs a blog that experts say is a compelling - and dangerous - recruitment tool for the terror group ISIS.
Shams - not her real name -- is one of an estimated 550 Western women who have left their homes and families to travel to Syria and Iraq and join ISIS.
Researchers at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London, curious at the "unprecedented surge in female recruits" to ISIS, are tracking more than 100 of the women through online platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and blogs.
ISD's database, the largest of its kind, provides a unique lens through which to see the daily lives of the women of ISIS.
They hope that by examining the way women are used by terrorist groups, analysts will better understand how the organizations work, and how to combat them.
"It really debunks the stereotypes," said ISD senior researcher Erin Saltman. "The ages range from 13 to 40, with a range of education and professions and families. It's very complicated."
CNN has had exclusive access to the group's new report. It paints a picture of a diverse group of women of different ages and backgrounds who play a variety of roles for the terror group that is now in control of large parts of Syria and Iraq. So who are the "women of ISIS?"
(Courtesy: CNN World)
"After [a] few minutes, I flipped my Niqab. He looked at me, our eyes [caught] each other's. I had palpitation[s] faster than the speed of light.
"He smiled. And he asked a question that I shall never forget for the rest of my life. 'Can we get married today?'"
But this is no stereotypical fairy tale, and there's no "happily ever after" ending.
It's a dispatch from Shams, a woman who calls herself the "Bird of Jannah" and runs a blog that experts say is a compelling - and dangerous - recruitment tool for the terror group ISIS.
Shams - not her real name -- is one of an estimated 550 Western women who have left their homes and families to travel to Syria and Iraq and join ISIS.
Researchers at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD) in London, curious at the "unprecedented surge in female recruits" to ISIS, are tracking more than 100 of the women through online platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and blogs.
ISD's database, the largest of its kind, provides a unique lens through which to see the daily lives of the women of ISIS.
They hope that by examining the way women are used by terrorist groups, analysts will better understand how the organizations work, and how to combat them.
"It really debunks the stereotypes," said ISD senior researcher Erin Saltman. "The ages range from 13 to 40, with a range of education and professions and families. It's very complicated."
CNN has had exclusive access to the group's new report. It paints a picture of a diverse group of women of different ages and backgrounds who play a variety of roles for the terror group that is now in control of large parts of Syria and Iraq. So who are the "women of ISIS?"
(Courtesy: CNN World)
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