Life After Daesh

- Season 2

(2023)

When her husband is captured by ISIS and disappears, a nurse is forced to join the organization and tend to the wounded. "Layla" defects and becomes a refugee in Lebanon --where she finally learns the fate of her husband.

A Syrian housepainter joins the resistance against Assad but is forcibly recruited by the Islamic State. "Ihab"is rescued by the FSA and flees to Lebanon where he works as a painter and farm hand to feed his family.

A Syrian student elopes with a Daesh fighter against the wishes of her family. After he is killed, "Aya" is forced to marry three other Daeshis. She escapes to Damascus, where a friend helps her start a sewing business.

Formerly a policeman, "Hisham" joins the Islamic State to further the political aims of Iraqi Sunnis. After his brother, also an ISIS fighter, is killed, "Hisham" decides to defect back home to Baghdad. He becomes a private security contractor and protects Iraqi government officials from ISIS and other terrorists.

Abu Khalid operates a successful metalworking shop in Baghdad. But not long ago, he fabricated vehicles for ISIS suicide bombers in Mosul. It's been a long road home, and Abu Khalid is putting painful memories of ISIS behind him, so he can focus on building a future for his family.

After serving ISIS as a tax collector and informant, a Syrian teacher smuggles his family to Lebanon and joins them after he defects. Today, "Abou Ahmad" works in a grocery store and tutors the children of Syrian refugees.

Needing a job to support his family, an engineer becomes an ISIS bomb technician. Horrified by the results of his work, "Omran" returns to his family farm where he raises livestock and helps Iraq recover after years of war.

A young Iraqi woman and her new husband join ISIS in Mosul. When he goes into combat near Raqqa, "Karima" is harassed by other Daesh fighters. She escapes to Baghdad without knowing if her husband is dead or alive.

After protesting against Assad, an air conditioning technician becomes an ISIS bomb maker. Horrified by what he sees, "Salim"returns to Damascus, gets a pardon, and joins a new cause--to provide a decent life for himself and his family.

While serving as a money handler and logistics expert for ISIS, a young Sunni man becomes disillusioned after two of his relatives are murdered. His Kurdish wife helps him escape to Erbil where he starts a car dealership.

A tailor leaves a Palestinian refugee camp, joins the Islamic State, and makes fake Syrian Army uniforms to help ISIS agents infiltrate into Syrian cities. Disillusioned by the religious hypocrisy he sees, Khalid takes advantage of Syria's reconciliation program and moves to Damascus, where he starts a thriving tailoring shop.

After spying for ISIS, a young Sunni man flees to southern Iraq and becomes an apprentice to a Shiite carpenter. "Rahman" falls in love with the carpenter's daughter and decides to build a new life away from sectarian conflict.