Slutspel i Irak? ISIS och allierade erövrar Mosul

In Islamic eschatology, it is believed that Dabiq is one of two possible locations for an epic battle between invading Christians and the defending Muslims which will result in a Muslim victory and mark the beginning of the end of the world.

And finally, sitting in front of me, is a large, transparent plastic bag filled with white powder. The YPG fighters told me they are not sure what this could be. So I dipped my index finger into it, and sure enough, it's a big bag of cocaine. I must admit, I am familiar with the taste of the drug.

"Cocaine? What is that?" they ask.

The other guys have no knowledge of this drug, or how people use it. It's nothing they have heard of or encountered before. But Dayan suggests that the powder is something Abu Zahra was distributing in smaller portions to his fighters.

There have been persistent rumors and accusations of drug use in the ranks of Islamic State fighters. Leaders in the group have been said to drug their militants to give them greater courage as they go into battle. This has led to both successful, but also reckless and ineffective suicide attacks by fighters who can easily be shot down. Certain IS militants have been described as "drug-crazed," and Kurds report having found mysterious pills, capsules, and syringes on living and dead IS fighters. And the slurred speech of the murderer behind the infamous beheadings of kidnapped Westerners, the man dubbed "Jihadi John," has been explained as him being high on khat.

All of this stands in sharp contrast to the official image that the Islamic State has been trying to present, as strict adherers to sharia law. Propaganda videos have shown IS members setting fire to piles of cannabis plants apparently found in the vicinity of Aleppo, while others have shown them breaking bottles of liquor, and even burning cigarettes and pharmaceutical drugs. All of these things are illegal under sharia law, and the group's policy on addictive drugs has officially been so strict that even smoking tobacco has been punished with chopped off fingers.