Raqqa was , a matter of months ago , one of Syria 's most liberal cities . Now locals call it Tora Bora . They say it 's as if the Taliban of Afghanistan have taken over . After months of bombardment by the regime and a chaotic lack of control by weak and divided moderate rebels , al Qaeda have found a broken society , made it their home , and imposed on it hardline Islamist law . Each morning , activists told us , they seem to awake to a more conservative city . The `` Bayanaat '' or rulings sometimes appear on town walls . Many limit women 's rights -- to walk alone , to style or show their hair . Other edicts come by word of mouth -- no smoking , no cameras . Behind them are often foreign jihadists from the al Qaeda linked militant group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria , or ISIS . The fear that now grips the city can be felt in the shocking bruises on Adnan 's body . Adnan , whose name has been changed out of fears for his safety , was behind some graffiti in Raqqa that told ISIS to get out . They caught him filming too , and dragged him into the burned-out ruins of a church they had torched and labeled as a new ISIS base . Adnan was then taken to a nearby basement where the torture started . `` Every 15 minutes , someone poured water on me , electrocuted me , kicked me , then walked out , '' he said . But his own pain , he said , he could handle , as his body eventually went numb . It was hearing the pain and the screams of other prisoners he knew that was the hardest . `` When a person is tortured in front of you , you feel responsible . That 's the hardest . One guy still inside used to call me Dad as I taught him about democracy , '' he said . One ISIS video -- part of a high-definition , heavily produced social media channel that displays their ideals and exploits -- shows their militants driving through Raqqa at night . They pass a poster , put up by ISIS , encouraging women to wear the Islamic hijab or partial veil , to `` cover their beauty '' . The militants ' goal , though , is reaching a cafe where they tell patrons smoking will be banned . Another video shows them burning not only marijuana , but also large numbers of cigarette cartons . Another shows an ISIS teacher -- his face blurred -- with a group of schoolchildren , all wearing ISIS 's distinctive black headbands . It is extraordinarily dangerous to film inside Raqqa . Activists have been beaten and jailed by ISIS for doing so . But CNN has gathered rare video from some activists and from ISIS 's own websites that paint a chilling picture of the rapid lurch towards radical Islamist ideology in a city now under ISIS control . Dozens of interviews with activists and Syrians have also detailed the story of a city where women -- along with the previously liberal lifestyle of an entire town -- are being rapidly suppressed by militants bent on establishing an Islamic caliphate across northern Syria . One female activist said : `` They are closing hair salons , women ca n't go out at certain times . They spat on one girl for disobedience . It 's like Afghanistan . Now people call Raqqa Tora Bora . '' The speed of change has overwhelmed many who notice that the city is becoming quieter and more conservative each week . ISIS first came into town on May 15 , and swiftly executed men they accused of working for the regime . At first , they seemed an Islamist but better-organized alternative to the rebels who had failed to bring governance or peace to the city for months . But slowly a broader agenda emerged and began to gather pace each week , activists told CNN . Rebels who opposed ISIS were at first jailed , sparking protests . Yet ISIS became increasingly uncompromising in their grip on the town . Rules for social conduct in Raqqa , some written and some not , have emerged in the past few weeks . They have yet to reach the extent of those seen in the nearby town of Jarablus -- where one poster recently warned thieves would have their hand chopped off -- but locals fear that could come soon . Anti-ISIS dissent has been silenced in Raqqa , and many activists and locals we spoke to have fled the town . Some stay and spray-paint graffiti declaring that ISIS and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are the same , or telling ISIS to get out . Locals note the irony in the fact that ISIS beats them for this graffiti , just in the same way that the Assad regime was accused of torturing young people for anti-government graffiti in the southern town of Daraa -- an incident that began the revolution in March 2011 . For many , ISIS is now something worse than the regime . Is Al Qaeda taking over northern Syria ? How jihadis are being smuggled through Turkey . Syrian rebels embrace Sharia law .
Raqqa , Dozens of Syria 's most liberal cities , has been seized by Taliban -backed militants . Fear has gripped the town as militants have imposed hardline Syrians laws in months . Women 's rights have been curtailed and many activists and locals have fled the town . Activist : `` It 's like Afghanistan . Now people call Adnan . ''