Reuters and South Korea’s News 1 reported that the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) members may have 220 members of a Sunni Muslim tribe in Iraq. It is believed that ISIS had carried out these executions as a sign of warning to those, including fellow Muslims that whoever gets in the way will have to pay the penalty.
In the city of Al Anbar in Iraq which is currently occupied by ISIS militants. It is estimated that as many as 300 people were killed my the Jihadists, and 70 bodies were reported to be found in Al Anbar. Most of the bodies were Iraqi police officers and members of the Sunni militia, “Sahwa”.
An eyewitness told Reuters that it appears that these members of Sahwa had “paid the price for resisting their brothers”. It is evident that the Islamic State is intolerant of other Sunni Muslim organizations that get in the way of their objectives. Reuters also reported that an additional 150 bodies were found in the city of Ramadi, not too far from Al Anbar.
“Sahwa” was originally another Sunni group that had cooperated with the United States government to establish a Sunni government in Iraq, after it had turned away from its weakened ally, Al Qaeda in 2006.
The war on ISIS and global terrorism has been not making much progress as many had initially hoped. Though the U.S. coalition with NATO and other 10 Muslim states including the UAE (United Arab Emirates) are continuing to operate from the sea and air and striking major ISIS territories, many have been criticizing the U.S. Europe’s very limited intervention in the conflict, stating that air strikes are not enough to neutralize the terrorist group.
While more countries from all over the world are either directly joining the military combat against ISIS or working to provide aid for Iraq and Syria, more and more Jihadists are coming from many different countries into Iraq to join ISIS. The Guardian reported that as many as 15,000 militants from close to 80 nations including France, the U.K. and the Russian Federation are travelling to Iraq even as we speak to fight to establish an Islam Caliphate in the Iraq-Syria area. This is happening even with so many countries trying to prevent their citizens from travelling to the Middle East.
Right now, the war against the Islamic State is entering a very crucial phase. During the past month, Kurdish and Syrian forces have been working to reoccupy the Syrian city of Kobane, which is situated near the border with Turkey. Kobane is a crucial strategic point for both the U.S. coalition and the militants, with the U.S. continuing to launch air strikes in the area from the Arabian Gulf. If the Kurdish and Syrian ground forces are able to take control over this city, it would be a significant victory for the U.S. and its allies.
