"We were prisoners": American teen forced into ISIS speaks
NORTHERN SYRIA -- Syrian militias, backed by U.S. forces, are days away from liberating Raqqa, the self-proclaimed capital of ISIS and the terror group's last stronghold in the country. CBS News correspondent Holly Williams has been reporting from Northern Syria that thousands of civilians are still in the ruined city, and ISIS is using them as human shields.
On the edge of Raqqa, Williams reported on a group of women who have just escaped ISIS territory. One of them revealed she's American.
"I'm from Kansas. I've been in Syria for five years," she said.
She's just 15 years old, and says she was brought to Syria by her father, a strong ISIS supporter, against her will. Because she's a minor, CBS News is not revealing her name.
"My father, of course, didn't tell us that we were coming to Syria," she said. "When it was time to get out of the car, and cross the border, he was like 'you're going to Syria,' and, yeah, it was a really big shock."
Her father was later killed, she says, leaving her to fend for herself. She's a devout Muslim, but hated ISIS.
"We were prisoners. We were just quiet. Shut up, sit down you're in the house, you have nothing to say," she said. "Be glad your head isn't chopped off. "
A blog post, previously written by her mother, shows the girl in happier times, a seemingly normal American family.
Her mother, she thinks, is still in the U.S.
"Hi Mom, if you see this video, please contact me," she said.
She also misses the comforts of home: "There's a restaurant called Texas Roadhouse, they have steak there," she said.
It's easy to forget she's just a teenager when she describes what she's seen.
"When you walk outside there's intestines on the street. There's a head cut off from the shrapnel. There's a leg," she said.
She married a Syrian man, she says, who was recently killed by a strike, and is now six months pregnant with his child.
"I still have hope, hope to go to school, hope to be a normal person, hope to be a mother to my child," she said.