Report: ISIS targeting Pope
A report in Il Tempo newspaper cites unnamed intelligence officials as saying that ISIS is targeting Pope Francis in order to ‘raise the level of confrontation’ in the Western world. It says the pontiff is the ‘greatest exponent of the Christian religions’ and a ‘bearer of false truths’ against Islam, and that he is…
…in the crosshairs of ISIS
Executes 670 Shiite prisoners
The UN says ISIS has executed as many as 670 Shiite inmates of Mosul’s Badush prison. The group abducts between 1,000 and 1,500 prisoners from the jail and drove them to an uninhabited area before separating Sunnis from the group. It forces the remaining Shiite prisoners to kneel and verbally abuses them before executing them. High commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay:
Such cold-blooded, systematic and intentional killings of civilians, after singling them out for their religious affiliation, may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity
Siezes airbase
ISIS fighters seize the Taqba airbase in Raqqa Province in the north of the country on the Turkish border, effectively giving the group control of the province. The provincial capital, Raqqa, is the group’s long-term de facto headquarters. Photographs posted on Twitter apparently show ISIS fighters in the airbase, standing next to a destroyed aircraft and cutting the head off a dead soldier. The Syrian state news service, SANA, acknowledges that government troops have withdrawn from the air base but says they have successfully ‘regrouped’ and are still fighting nearby.
Massacres 40 Shiite Turkmen
ISIS has massacred as at least 40 Shiite Turkmen during expulsions from four villages in the northern province of Salahduin, officials and members of the ethnic group say. The Washington Post witnesses a mass burial of two women and 13 men from Bashir, located 30 miles north of the other three villages. Kirkuk deputy police chief Gen. Turhan Abdel-Rahman confirms at least 25 other deaths in Chardaghli, Brawchi and Karanaz, which are located 50 miles south of Kirkuk and says there are more deaths uncounted:
There are other bodies still inside Bashir.
Diyala mosque attack kills 73
An attack by suspected Shia militia kills dozens of Sunni worshipers at a mosque in Diyala province. A suicide bomber apparently blows himself up at the Bani Wais village mosque south of the city of Baquba, about 75 miles from Baghdad, and militants also machinegun worshipers in an attack thought to be a retaliation for a bombing of the militia group’s recruiting drive. Death toll estimates rise to at least 73 including at least one child. Al-Abadi:
I strongly condemn the killing of civilians and worshipers in Diyala province and I call on the citizens to reject these attempts by the enemies of Iraq to exploit the incident in order to stir up strife between the sons of the same homeland.
Captor’s demanded $132.5 million
Philip Balboni, the president and chief executive of GlobalPost, where Foley worked, tells The Wall Street Journal ISIS demanded money from GlobalPost and Foley’s family in exchange for Foley’s release. He says the captors demanded a ransom of 100 million euros ($132.5 million), and states the messages started last fall:
The captors never messaged a lot. There was a very limited number with a very specific purpose. … They made demands.
He goes on to say that last week Foley’s family was notified by the captors and were told he would be killed:
The message was vitriolic and filled with rage against the United States. It was deadly serious. Obviously, we hoped and prayed that would not be the case. … Sadly, they showed no mercy.
He says Foley’s family responded to the email begging for mercy, but they never received a reply.
James Foley beheaded by ISIS
Foley is beheaded by ISIS in a video posted online and titled A Message to America. Foley addresses the camera before his death, leaving a message for his brother, John, who serves in the US Air Force:
I died that day, John, when your colleagues dropped that bomb on these people. They signed my death certificate.
Foley recites a long list of anti-American statements, and ends his speech with:
I wish I had more time, I wish I could have the hope of freedom and see my family once again, but that ship has sailed. I guess all in all, I wish I wasn’t American.
There is a member of the Islami State shown standing over Foley:
Any attempt by you, Obama, to deny Muslims liberty & safety under the Islamic caliphate, will result in the bloodshed of your people.
Foley is then beheaded, and his head is placed on top of his body.
80 Yazidis killed, women kidnapped
ISIS, now being called the Islamic State, massacres 80 people who are part of the Yazidi minority in a village in the northern part of the country. A senior-level Kurdish official tells Reuters:
They arrived in vehicles and they started their killing this afternoon. We believe it’s because of their creed: convert or be killed.
It is also being reported that the women of the village have been kidnapped.
Kidnaps 300 Yazidi women
Iraq’s Human Rights minister says ISIS has kidnapped as many as 300 Yazidi women and is holding them as slaves. Mohammed Shia al-Sudani:
We spoke to some of the Yazidis who fled from Sinjar. We have dozens of accounts and witness testimonies describing painful scenes of how Islamic State fighters arrived and took girls from their families by force to use them as slaves. The terrorist Islamic State has also taken at least 300 Yazidi women as slaves and locked some of them inside a police station in Sinjar and transferred others to the town of Tal Afar. We are afraid they will take them outside the country.
Offer prisoner swap
ISIS fighters offer a prisoner swap of 19 Lebanese soldiers captured in their assault on the border town of Arsal in exchange for Islamist detainees, including Imad Ahmad Joma, previously affiliated with Al Qaeda branch Al-Nusra Front but now aligned with ISIS. A militant:
It is simple: their soldiers for the Islamic hostages.
Withdraws from Lebanese town
Syrian fighters affiliated with ISIS and Al Qaeda branch the Al-Nusra Front withdraw from the Lebanese border town of Arsal at dawn. The militants take with them 10 soldiers and 17 policemen captured and held as hostages. A fighter:
They could be released later in stages
Releases soldiers
Syrian fighters release three soldiers captured during the assault on the Lebanese border town of Arsal, bringing the total number of soldiers released to five. The group says it is still holding 10 soldiers and 17 policemen. The rebels are reported to pledge allegiance to both ISIS and the Al Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra Front.
Militants give residents ultimatum
Islamist militants attack the towns of Sinjar and Zunmar forcing approximately 40,000 Yazidi families to flee their homes. Residents are given an ultimatum to convert to Islam, pay a security tax, leave their homes, or die. Jawhar Ali Begg, a Yazidi family member and spokesperson for the Yazidi community:
Thousands of Yazidi people have been killed. And thousands have become refugees. Their town is controlled by Islamic State, and their shrine has been blown up by IS. They’re killing Yazidi people and it’s a big attack against Yazidis.
ISIS takes control of dam
ISIS takes control of Iraq’s largest hydroelectric dam. The dam is on the Tigris River and provides power to Mosul. Workers at the dam remain inside the facility. Daniel Pipes, the president of the Middle East Forum, says seizing dams is a tactic the group uses to gain control of a town and its people:
If you control the Mosul Dam, you can threaten just about everybody.
Capture of Sinjar sparks ‘humanitarian tragedy’
Jihadist fighters capture the town of Sinja. A UN statement says some reports put the number of people forced to flee the area by the ISIS takeover at 200,000. According to the top UN envoy in the area a humanitarian tragedy is unfolding in Sinjar. UN:
The United Nations has grave concerns for the physical safety of these civilians.
14 Lebanese soldiers killed
A Lebanese Army statement says its casualties total 14 soldiers killed, 86 wounded and 22 missing from three days of fighting against Syrian rebels claiming to be from both ISIS and Al Qaida affiliate the al-Nusra Front. The rebelssay they are fighting to free rebel commander Imad Ahmad Jomaa, who has pledged allegiance to both groups. Jomaa’s deputy:
Let them release our emir and we are ready to pull out from all over the town … Or else we will escalate and expand, and we will ask for more demands
Lebanese border town attacked
Syrian rebels attack the Lebanese border town of Arsil in an apparent attempt to free a militant, Imad Ahmad Jomaa, detained a day earlier by Lebanese security forces. Army statement:
What happened today is the most dangerous incident Lebanon and the Lebanese have ever faced because it’s made clear that there is someone planning and preparing to attack Lebanon as well as planning to sabotage the Lebanese Army and the residents of Arsal
Orders genital mutilation
The United Nations says that militant group Islamic State had ordered all girls and women in and around Iraq’s northern city of Mosul to undergo female genital mutilation. Doubts emerged on social media about the basis for the report. One document posted on Twitter suggested it may be a year old and have been issued by the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, the group’s previous name. Humanitarian coordinator in Iraq Jacqueline Badcock:
We have current reports of imposition of a directive that all female girl children and women up to the age of 49 must be circumcised. This is something very new for Iraq, particularly in this area, and is of grave concern and does need to be addressed.
Expels Shiite Turkmen from villages
ISIS expels Shiite Turkmen from villages in an operation that leaves between 15 and 25 people dead including an old man and a woman, children and youths. The attacks take place in neighbouring Chardaghli, Brawchi and Karanaz 50 miles south of Kirkuk in Salahduin province, which links west to Baghdad, as well as Beshir, 30 miles north of the other three villages. Residents from each village say that after they left, their Sunni neighbors burned down their homes, set fire to their wheat, and stole their sheep, while insurgents blew up some Shiite mosques. Hassan Ali, a 52-year-old farmer who has fled to Kirkuk:
You cannot imagine what happened, only if you saw it could you believe it
Around 7,000 Shiites fleeing Beshir come under sniper fire as they pass neighboring Sunni villages. Residents of three Sunni northern villages also abandon their homes to flee into Sunni-majority areas through fear of reprisals.
Takes four strategic towns
ISIS takes four strategic towns located along a highway from Syria to Baghdad and could help the militants gain control of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. Iraqi forces withdrew from Haditha, about 270 kilometers (about 168 miles) northwest of Baghdad, during the overnight hours. Sunni tribes considered friendly to the Iraqi army took over security for the town, but officials believe it will fall to ISIS. Iraq’s military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, told reporters there was a “strategic withdrawal” in some areas but did not detail the specific locations.