Don't call': Trapped with ISIS fighters, college girl warns mother through text

Kirkuk: A college student has revealed how she and her friend hid under their beds for hours in Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk during violent clashes between Islamic State fighters and the army, as some fighters of the terrorist group stormed in and out of their house last month.

According to a report in The Washington Post, Monaly Atalla and six of her college roommates concealed themselves under a bed in their house and could hear ISIS fighters talking and praying in other rooms.

As fear gripped her, Antalla sent a text message to her mother warning her against making any calls.

"I am trapped in a house with Islamic State fighters. Do not call me," said the only text she sent to her mother.

As a fierce battled raged on outside the house, the students just had a thin blanket covering them from the eyes of the most dreaded militants in the world. Two fighters who passed from their room were grievously injured and the students could smell the sweat and blood that covered the men.

All the students hiding in the house were women between the ages 20-23 and all of them were devout Christians who had fled Mosul over two years back because ISIS had taken control of the region.

Recalling her harrowing experience, Antalla said that she and her friends had first taken refuge in a closet and used their laptops to charge their phones. They could hear men coming into their house and the sound of glass breaking in their kitchen. Some men had barged in, eaten what they could find and left.

The women got out of closet and armed themselves with knives before deciding to hide under a bed towards the evening. More men kept moving in and out of their house as their area was witness to very heavy gun fighting and both soldiers and ISIS fighters were taking cover in surrounding houses.

While Antalla was under the bed, the boot of one of the fighter touched her shoulders and fear gripped her like never before.

“I thought at that moment, this is it,” Antalla said. She thought she was going to die or even worse.

Luckily for the women, there was no electricity and heavy gun fire made it hard for the militants around them to hear anything. The chaos and darkness around them helped them hide without being discovered.

The next day, they were rescued by a Kirkuk police officer who said they could have been beheaded, had they been found by the Islamic State fighters.