Iraq
Is ISIS 7x Bigger Than The West Believes?
The Islamic State (Isis) has recruited an army hundreds of thousands strong, far larger than previous estimates by the CIA, according to a senior Kurdish leader. He said the ability of Isis to attack on many widely separated fronts in Iraq and Syria at the same time shows that the number of militant fighters is at least 200,000, seven or eight times bigger than foreign in intelligence estimates of up to 31,500 men. Fuad Hussein, the chief of staff of the Kurdish President Massoud Barzani said in an exclusive interview with The Independent on Sunday that “I am talking about hundreds of thousands of fighters because they are able to mobilise Arab young men in the territory they have taken.
ISIS Video: America’s Air Dropped Weapons Now in Our Hands
At least one bundle of U.S. weapons airdropped in Syria appears to have fallen into the hands of ISIS, a dangerous misfire in the American mission to speed aid to Kurdish forces making their stand in Kobani.
Boy, 17, crucified for three days after ISIS militants accuse him of being paid to take photographs of the terror group’s HQ
Islamic State militants have publicly crucified and murdered a teenager they accused of taking photographs of the terror group’s headquarters in Syria. Sickening images purportedly taken in the central square of the extremists’ de facto capital Raqqa show the battered and bloodstained body of an unnamed 17-year-old boy strapped to a cross. A handwritten placard hangs around the teenager’s neck, accusing him of ‘apostasy’ – the abandonment of his religion – and says he had been crucified for three days after being caught receiving 500 Turkish lira for every photograph he took of an Islamic State military base.
‘Dragon’s Egg’: Marines who guarded Saddam’s mysterious bunker fear weapons unleashed
The U.S. Marines who guarded the sprawling complex in northwest Iraq where Saddam Hussein’s 1980s war machine churned out some of the most deadly chemical and biological weapons known to man had a name for one especially mysterious bunker:
Horror of Kobani: Headless corpses left in the street and victims with their eyes ‘cut out’, the savagery of Isis laid bare
Survivors of the fighting in Kobani have spoken of the horrors they witnessed as Isis militants took control of parts of the town from Kurdish forces. Refugees in Suruc, Tukey, have told The Daily Mail how relatives and neighbours were beheaded by the militants, while another spoke of how he had seen “hundreds” of decapitated corpses in the besieged town. On Friday, the UN Syria envoy warned the hundreds still trapped in Kobani will be “massacred” by militants if the town falls, where only a small corridor remains open for people to flee.
Islamic State attack on Iraqi base leaves hundreds missing, shows army weaknesses
The army base in Iraq’s western Anbar province had been under siege by Islamic State militants for a week, so when a convoy of armored Humvees rolled up at the gate, the Iraqi soldiers at Camp Saqlawiyah believed saviors had arrived. But this was no rescue attempt. The vehicles were driven by militants on suicide missions, and within seconds on Sunday the base had become a bloody scene of multiple bombings.
Islamic State militants raping thousands of women to populate caliphate, Iraqi official claims
ISLAMIC State fighters are reportedly raping thousands of women in Iraq and Syria to mass-produce spawn who’ll follow in their footsteps. Young militants are running wild to the chagrin of their more sophisticated and PR-savvy commanders, an Iraqi official told The New York Post. The motivation of the rapists is said to be twofold:
ISIS Drives Texas-made Toyota Trucks Apparently Modified for U.S. Special Forces
This you have to see to believe: the now iconic white Toyota trucks we see ISIS™ driving around look scarily familiar to ones purchased here in the states and outfitted by special forces which puts to rest the notion that ISIS™ simply ran up to a dealership in Iraq and made off with 30 or so vehicles. They aren’t even SOLD in Iraq and certainly not with these modifications.
Obama, Kerry: No U.S. troops will be sent into combat against ISIS in Iraq, Syria
The U.S. is not returning combat troops to Iraq, President Barack Obama insisted again Wednesday, despite the suggestion by his top general that option is something the Pentagon could consider.
ISIS Jihadists Using Weapons Marked ‘Property Of The U.S. Government’
Islamic State fighters appear to be using captured US military issue arms and weapons supplied to moderate rebels in Syria by Saudi Arabia, according to a report published on Monday. The study by the London-based small-arms research organisation Conflict Armament Research documented weapons seized by Kurdish forces from militants in Iraq and Syria over a 10-day period in July. The report said the jihadists disposed of “significant quantities” of US-made small arms including M16 assault rifles and included photos showing the markings “Property of US Govt”.
NBC Reporter: U.S. Already Has Boots On The Ground In Iraq
During his prime time speech last night, President Barack Obama vowed that no combat troops would fight on foreign soil in the pursuit of ISIS, an assertion contradicted by NBC’s chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel, who says that U.S. boots are already on the ground in Iraq.
Showing off its crimes: How ISIS flaunts its brutality as propaganda
One video shows more than 100 prisoners paraded across the desert in their underwear, then lying face down as militants unleash a hailstorm of bullets into their bodies. Other images show crucifixions and public executions in towns overrun by terrorists. Do ISIS’ videos mirror ‘Homeland’?
Incredible Documentary On The Rise Of ISIS (The Islamic State)
(YT) The Islamic State, a hardline Sunni jihadist group that formerly had ties to al Qaeda, has conquered large swathes of Iraq and Syria. Previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the group has announced its intention to reestablish the caliphate and has declared its leader, the shadowy Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as the caliph. The lightning advances the Islamic State made across Syria and Iraq in June shocked the world.
Barack Obama Orders 350 More U.S. Troops To Iraq
President Barack Obama authorized the deployment of another 350 American service members to Baghdad on Tuesday evening, the White House announced, bringing the number of American troops deployed to Iraq since June to over 1,000. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement that the 350 U.S.
Islamic State holds U.S. woman, seeks ransom
The Islamic State wants more than $6 million to free an American woman the Muslim extremists kidnapped a year ago while she did humanitarian work in Syria, according to her family, U.S. officials and news reports.
‘Unspeakable’ suffering in Iraqi town besieged by ISIS jihadists
As violence continues to wrack Iraq, the United Nations warned Saturday of another ethnic slaughter in the making by Sunni extremists from ISIS. ISIS fighters have besieged the ethnic Turkmen Shiite town of Amerli in the north for two months, and its fewer than 20,000 residents are without power and running out of food, water and medical supplies. “The situation of the people in Amerli is desperate and demands immediate action to prevent the possible massacre of its citizens,” said Nickolay Mladenov, the U.