Expands magazine
ISIS’s propaganda arm, Al-Hayat Media Center, publishes the fifth edition of the group’s weekly magazine, retitled Dabiq and expanded to 50 pages from eight. The magazine includes an editorial explaining the changes in layout, saying it has decided to focus on the concepts of monotheism, receiving knowledge, pilgrimage, holy war and Islamic society:
After a review of some of the comments received on the first issues of Islamic State News and Islamic State Report, AlHayat Media Center decided to carry on the effort – in sha’allah – into a periodical magazine focusing on issues of tawhid, manhaj, hijrah, jihad, jama’ah.
The name of the new magazine refers to the area of Dabiq in the northern countryside of Aleppo, which the group says will be the site of an apocalyptic battle between Islam and the Western ‘crusaders’:
[…] Allah’s messenger said, ‘The Hour will not be established until the Romans land at al-Amaq or Dabiq … then an army from al-Madinah of the best people on the earth at that time will leave for them.’
The lead story focuses on ISIS’s declaration of the new Islamic Caliphate on the first day of Ramadan, including excerpts of speeches by the group’s leaders. Speech by Al-Baghdadi:
O Muslims everywhere, glad tidings to you and expect good. Raise your heads high, for today – by Allah’s grace – you have a state and Khilafah, which will return your dignity, might, rights, and leadership … Therefore, rush O Muslims to your state. Rush, because Syria is not for the Syrians, and Iraq is not for the Iraqis. The earth is Allah’s.
It reports on what it says are efforts by ISIS to build relations with tribal assemblies in Aleppo as part of efforts to establish the caliphate. Other sections include graphic photos of what it says are government atrocities in Nineveh including execution of Sunnis as the Iraqi security forces retreated from ISIS’s advance on Mosul. The second part of the magazine focuses on a lengthy analysis of the concept of imamah (Islamic leadership). The news section focuses on successful ISIS military campaigns and what it says are conversions to the group’s ideology in territories it has captured in Kirkuk, Diyala, Salahuddin and Anbar.
The magazine’s back page expounds further on the apocalyptic events to take place in Dabiq, including a hadith stating that the caliphate will conquer Constantinople (Istanbul), before returning to Sham (the Levant) and defeating the devil in battle.
Indian nurses arrive home
After being trapped for more than a week in Tikrit, an area that had been seized by Sunni militant forces, the group of 46 nurses arrives home to India. It is not yet clear if they were abducted or trapped and unable to leave the area. One of the nurses says:
They didn’t do anything, they didn’t disturb us and they didn’t harm anyone. They didn’t touch even. They talked nicely.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi video
A video showing someone who is thought to be the leader of the Islamic State extremist group delivering a sermon at a mosque in Mosul is posted online. Al-Baghdadi is rarely seen in public, with only a few photographs of him in existence. Although the video appears on a site that is connected to the group, there has been no official verification of whether or not he is the one in the video.
Trapped nurses fly home
An Indian official says that the Indian nurses who are stranded in Iraq will be flying home to India this week. The 46 nurses, who were stranded at a hospital in the city of Tikrit, which was captured by Sunni militants last month, were moved to Mosul earlier this week. Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala state in India, says the nurses will return home on a special aircraft arranged by the Indian government:
We are thankful to the government of India.
Al-Maliki won’t withdraw from PM race
Hours after a lawmaker had said al-Maliki agreed not to run for another term as the country’s prime minister, al-Maliki announces he will not withdraw his name from the candidacy. On a state-run TV station broadcast, he says:
I will never back down nominating myself as prime minister. No one has the right to place any conditions.
Airstrikes target ISIS
Government airstrikes kill at least 30 insurgents who are trying to gain control of the Beiji oil refinery. A government plane targeted eight vehicles that were attacking government forces at the facility yesterday. The militants have taken control of Qaim, which controls a border crossing with Syria, last month during their blitz across Iraq, and now control a vast stretch of territory straddling Iraq and Syria.
Kidnapped drivers released
Turkey’s foreign minister says 32 drivers believed to have been kidnapped by ISIS militants last month are released in Iraq. The drivers were on their way to the airport in northern Iraq to board a flight back to Turkey when they went missing. Additionally, in June, the militants raided the Turkish Consulate in Mosul and abducted many staff members. There are still 40 staff members missing.
Parliament delays session
After 90 members of parliament failed to return after a 30-minute break, Iraq’s new parliament postpones its first session due to a lack of quorum. The speaker of the Parliament says:
We are going to postpone because of an urgent matter.
He did not reveal what the matter is or what happened.
‘Kurds have declared war’
The leader of Al-Maliki’s coalition says Kurdistan president Masoud Barzani’s effective annexation of the city of Kirkuk constitutes a declaration of war on the federal government. Adnan Al Shamahni notes that article 140 of the Iraqi constitution states that there should be a normalization followed by a referendum on disputed areas, including whether Kirkuk falls under control of the federal government or is part of the semi-autonomous region. He says the coalition will:
Abolish Barzani to the mountains
Kurds seize Kirkuk
Kurdish peshmerga fighters take complete control of the northern oil city of Kirkuk – known as the ‘Kurdish Jerusalem’ – after government troops flee as ISIS advances across the north of the country and takes the city of Mosul. Kirkuk governor Najmaldin Karim:
The army disappeared.
Shoresh Haji, a Kurdish member of Iraq’s Parliament:
I hope that the Kurdish leadership will not miss this golden opportunity to bring Kurdish lands in the disputed territories back under Kurdish control. It is a very sad situation for Mosul, but at the same time, history has presented us with only one or two other moments at which we could regain our territory, and this is an opportunity we cannot ignore.
300 US troops deployed
The Pentagon announces that the US has increased its presence in Iraq. Over the past few days, 200 troops arrived in the area to provide additional security for the US Embassy, the Baghdad airport and other locations. A written statement from Pentagon spokesman, Rear Adm. John Kirby says the deployment includes:
a detachment of helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles, which will bolster airfield and travel route security.
The newly deployed troops are an addition to 300 U.S. advisers who will help train Iraq’s security forces. They will bring the total of American forces in Iraq to about 800 troops.
Declares ‘Caliphate’
ISIS declares itself a Caliphate, calling on other factions to pledge allegiance in a statement posted on jihadist websites. The group says that it has renamed itself Islamic State to reflect its new status. Spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani declares ISIS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi the head of the Islamic world:
He is the imam and khalifah (Caliph) for the Muslims everywhere.
Russian fighter jets arrive
Five Russian Sukhoi fighter jets arrive in Iraq, the first of 25 planes to be delivered to Iraq under an agreement between the two countries. When attempts to get fighter jets from the US failed, the country turned to Russia and Belarus for help. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki believes militant advances could have been stopped if fighter jets had been deployed:
God willing, within one week, this force will be effective and will destroy the terrorists’ dens.
In response, a State Department spokeswoman tells CNN:
This kind of blame of others on the outside is quite frankly part of what’s gotten Iraq into the situation it’s in today. It’s helped create the crisis. When we left Iraq, we gave the Iraqis the ability to create a better future. And unfortunately, leaders across the spectrum didn’t step up and take the opportunity. They blamed others and didn’t bring the country together.
Reclaims Tikrit
Both state media and a local tribal leader are reporting that Iraq security forces have reclaimed Tikrit from Sunni militants. Sheikh Khamis al-Joubouri, a key tribal leader in Tikrit, tells CNN that Iraqi security forces, along with special forces and fighters from local tribes, entered the city and gained control. Sabah Numan, a Counter Terrorism Unit spokesman, tells CNN that 120 militants have been killed and 20 vehicles destroyed in the large-scale operation that began this morning. Numan says:
We are mainly busy defusing booby-trapped houses and cars on the main roads leading into Tikrit.
Saudi forces on high alert
SPA, the state-run news agency, reports King Abdullah has ordered that “all necessary measures” be taken to protect Saudi Arabia against terror threats:
Anticipating (that) the terrorist organizations or others might carry out actions that might disturb the security of the homeland, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has ordered taking all necessary measures to protect the gains of the homeland and its territories in addition to the security and stability of the Saudi people.
A Saudi official, who is not authorized to speak with the media, says:
Saudi Arabia shares a long border with Iraq and the government is aware that ISIS is very close to Iraq’s border with Jordan, and is also aware ISIS has been very public about its intention to attempt to attack Saudi Arabia.
Needs fighter jets
Maliki tells the BBC that if Iraq had fighter jets in the air ISIS advances could have been avoided. Iraq has been trying to secure fighter jets from the United States for some time. The country is now asking Russia to supply them with fighter jets.
I’ll be frank and say that we were deluded when we signed the contract with the United States.
Sunni detainees executed
In a recent report, Amnesty International states there is evidence showing a pattern of “extra judicial executions” of Sunni detainees by government forces and Shiite militias in the northern Iraqi cities of Tal Afar, Mosul and Baquba. Senior crisis response adviser, Donatella Rovera says:
Reports of multiple incidents where Sunni detainees have been killed in cold blood while in the custody of Iraqi forces are deeply alarming. The killings suggest a worrying pattern of reprisal attacks against Sunnis in retaliation for ISIS gains.
US drones over Baghdad
A US official confirms to CNN that US drones began flying over the city over the past 24 hours to provide extra protection for the 180 US military advisers that are currently located there. The use of the drones for offensive strikes against the insurgent Islamic State in Iraq and Syria fighters would require approval from President Obama.
Annexes Kirkuk
Kurdistan region President Masoud Barzani vows during a visit to Kurdish leaders in Kirkuk that the ethnic minority will not return the city to the federal government’s control:
We are not ready to relinquish even a hand’s width of Kurdish land. If Kirkuk at any time becomes part of the Kurdistan region again, it will be clear how well we will serve it.
Magazine 4th edition
ISIS propaganda wing Al-Hayat Media Center publishes the fourth edition of the Islamic State magazine (pdf here). Expanded to eight pages from six and retitled IS Report, the publication leads with a feature titled ‘Smashing The Borders of the Rebels’ and a cover photo showing militants freely crossing the Syria-Iraq border. The subtitle – ‘The Battle of Asadullah Al-Bilawi’ – is an apparent reference to the group’s operation to take control of Mosul, named after a now-deceased ISIS commander. The cover story focuses on in-depth analysis of the historical background of regional geopolitics, including the Sykes-Picot agreement which determined the borders of modern-day Iraq and Syria. It says the group took control of the border region between Nineveh province in Iraq and al-Barakah province in Syria, demolishing ‘artificial barriers’ set up as ‘crusader partitions’ by the Western powers in an effort to restore the Islamic caliphate:
Last week, the mujahidin of the Islamic State of Iraq and Sham reached yet another signicant milestone on the path to restoring the prophetic khilafah.
It says it executed 1,700 Iraqi soldiers in the battle for Mosul, and includes a photo feature apparently showing the men being marched to their deaths.