Manchester Man Plays Ariana Grande Song in Raqqa's Main Square

A Manchester-born actor and YPG volunteer has been filmed playing an Ariana Grande song in the main square of Raqqa, the former de facto ISIS capital.

Michael Enright – who's appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and CSI, among other shows and movies – joined the Kurdish YPG in January of 2015 after watching the execution of Jordanian pilot Muath al-Kasasbeh. This weekend, after a four-month siege on Raqqa, the YPG and Arab fighters declared ISIS's former stronghold liberated.

In the video, standing next to Naim Square – where ISIS carried out many of their public executions – Enright says: "[I thought] 'cos I'm from Manchester and they came to my city – they came to my city – and they tried to shut up Ariana Grande, that she be the first one to sing," referring to the bombing of a concert by the American singer at the Manchester Arena in May of 2017.

Enright then holds his phone up to the camera, starts playing Grande's song "Bang Bang" and begins to address ISIS: "So you didn't shut her up, and you didn't shut my city up, but she's singing 'Bang Bang', and you know what happened? I came and we did 'bang bang', and you left – you ran away – and so light is coming here now, freedom is coming back here now, singing is coming back here now, and Ariana this is your first concert here."

The fall of Raqqa is the latest in a long string of defeats for ISIS, whose former sprawling "caliphate" has been reduced to almost zero actual territory, with remaining fighters retreating to desert and semi-desert areas.