It's notoriously difficult to get information out of Raqqa. ISIS monitors everything inside the city and CNN has a policy of not contacting anyone in the city directly as it would put their lives in danger. Much of the information in this gallery has been provided by activist group Raqqa is Being Silently Slaughtered and many of the sources are unnamed for their own protection. CNN cannot independently verify their information.
When little Elian Gonzalez returned to Cuba in 2000 following a poisonous custody battle and a federal raid on his Miami relatives' home, it was to resume a life far from the glare of the media spotlight. At least that's what Cuban officials and his father said at the time.
If I live to be 100, playing handball against the garage door, staying up until the wee hours, drinking the wine from my own grapes, I will have a nice Midwestern boy named Dan to thank.
In November 2013, 19-year-old Aqsa Mahmood gave her father, Muzaffar, a long hug goodbye. As if it were a normal day, she said "Khuda hafiz," which means "May God be your guardian," and left the family home in an affluent Glasgow, Scotland, neighborhood.
Picture a colossal empire of little houses stacked on top of each other. Visualize them connected by staircases snaking under dangling wires, through corridors so dark even police were rumored to be afraid of them.
