'Revenge' attack on IS judge in Syria prompts rare protest against militant rule

A small town in northern Syria has erupted in rare protest against rule by the Islamic State group, after a resident killed a judge loyal to the group.

Locals took to the streets of Manbaj, a town of less than 100,000 in the northern Aleppo province, on Wednesday to demand an end to IS rule, activists have said. 

The protest came after a young man from the town shot dead an IS judge and two of his bodyguards before turning the gun on himself. 

“A man from the countryside around Manbij, dressed as an IS militant, opened fire on the judge and two of his colleagues before killing himself,” a local activist known as Abu al-Baraa told local news site Syria Net.

According to the activist, the judge – a Tunisian national – had previously ordered the man’s brother and uncle to be executed by beheading for “photographing IS strongholds”.

An eyewitness who spoke to ARA news on condition of anonymity said the man "took revenge and then killed himself to avoid falling into the hands of [IS]".

Locals gathered in a town square in the wake of the attack, chanting “Out, out, out – ISIS get out,” according to unverified footage purportedly from the scene.

Wednesday’s protest was the third time in recent weeks that residents of Manbij have protested against IS, according to local journalist Adnan al-Hussein.

Last week a group of local women calling themselves Girls of the Levant assassinated a female member of IS in Manbij, local activist Welat Bekir said on Wednesday.

Some 20 kilometres west of Manbij, the tiny town of Arima saw fierce protests the following day, according to pro-rebel news site Manbij News Network, with residents burning tyres and throwing stones at IS militants.

The protests came after militants in control of the town executed six young men on charges of “apostasy and spying for the anti-IS coalition”.