Uranium theift
The militant group takes a uranium compound from a university lab in Mosul. Officials tell CNN that the compound that was taken is a small amount that is not of weapon grade, and they expressed minimal concern. A letter from Iraq’s U.N. ambassador about the uranium compounds asks for help as the country struggles with a deadly insurgency:
To stave off the threat of their use by terrorists in Iraq or abroad.
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.
Declares Islamic state
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria declare that they have set up a caliphate spanning large areas of the two countries. In recently released audio and written announcements, a person claiming to be the groups official spokesman called on all Muslims to swear allegiance to the caliphate, which means Islamic state. The group says its flag now flies from Aleppo province in northwestern Syria to Diyala province in eastern Iraq, although CNN could not confirm this. The group announced that it was changing its name to just the “Islamic State.”
Takes control of oil fields
Sunni militants in Iraq take control of several oil fields. The militants launched a dawn raid on the Beiji refinery, which along with a nearby power plant supplies Iraq with approximately one-third of its fuel and one-tenth of its electricity. A Western diplomat tells Britain’s Daily Telegraph:
We have used the word crisis about Iraq before, but this is the real thing. Iraq’s political leaders now mostly realize the problems. But has it translated into action yet? It has not.
Officials: Iraq warned of ISIS theat
Iraq received warnings about the “growing threat” from Sunni militants in Iraq as early as the beginning of 2014. US intelligence agencies say:
During the past year, the intelligence community has provided strategic warning of Iraq’s deteriorating security situation. We routinely highlighted (ISIS’) growing threat in Iraq, the increasing difficulties Iraq’s security forced faced in combating (ISIS), and the political strains that were contributing to Iraq’s declining stability…We knew exactly what strategy they were going to use, we knew the military planners.
Aside from the warnings from US intelligence agencies, both The Telegraph and Daily Beast are claiming Kurdish sources did warn American and British officials that ISIS was gaining strength and was ready to advance, but it “fell on deaf ears.”
1075 killed this month
According to a U.N human rights team in Iraq, at total 1075 have died this month, including at least 757 civilians and 599 injured in Nineveh, Diyala and Salah al-Din provinces between June 5th and June 22nd as troops led by Shiite-led government in Baghdad failed to stop the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS.
This figure — which should be viewed very much as a minimum — includes a number of verified summary executions and extra-judicial killings of civilians, police, and soldiers who were hors (de) combat
Google removes ‘Dawn’ app
Google removes the ISIS app ‘Dawn of Glad Tidings’ from the Play store after it is widely reported by media. The app, which posts ISIS-created content including hashtags, links and images over users’ Twitter accounts, has been available for around two months and has been downloaded thousands of times. Google spokesman:
We remove any applications that breach our community guidelines.