Ceasefire in Lebanese town
ISIS and the Lebanese military agree a 24-hour ceasefire in the border town of Arsal from 1600 GMT to allow a mediator to investigate the fate of 22 soldiers believed to be abducted by ISIS and help evacuate civilians. A security source says the army position came under fire shortly after the truce started but that it is still intact.
It is like a humanitarian ceasefire … Clashes erupted but now they have ended. The ceasefire is still on, it did not collapse. What happened was to be expected due to differences between the fighters
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.
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
42 Lebanese civilians dead
A medical official says 42 civilians have died while over 400 are wounded in clashes between the military and fighters from ISIS and Al Qaeda branch the Al-Nusra Front for control of the border town of Arsal. Lebanese Red Cross official Abdullah Zogheib says medics have evacuated 42 wounded people after the rebels retreat, mostly women and children:
Most of them had very serious wounds. They had been shot by bullets, some in the head, and there were amputees from shell fire
Airstrikes begin
U.S. aircraft drop 500-pound laser-guided bombs on a “mobile artillery piece” used by ISIS. The mobile artillery batteries hit are based outside Irbil.
Orders airstrikes
President Obama issues military airstrikes in Iraq, against ISIS. In a televised speech Obama threatened to renew U.S. military involvement and announced that U.S. military planes already had carried out airdrops of food and water, at the request of the Iraqi government, to tens of thousands of Iraqi religious minorities atop a mountain surrounded by ISIS.
Earlier this week, one Iraqi in the area cried to the world, ‘There is no one coming to help!” Well, today, America is coming to help. We’re also consulting with other countries — and the United Nations — who have called for action to address this humanitarian crisis
Obama also noted that U.S. military action would be worry many Americans and vowed not to put American combat troops back on the ground in Iraq. He also said there is no U.S. military solution to the crisis.
As commander in chief, I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq
#AMessageFromISIStoUS hashtag
Social media users hijack the #AMessageFromISIStoUS hashtag after the group introduces it to spread violent images. Twitter users in the U.S. respond with pictures of a bald eagle, a ‘bacon grenade,’ and references to bestiality and threats of military superiority.
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.
Airstrikes may continue
Obama says that airstrikes and humanitarian air drops could continue for months, apparently preparing Americans for an extended military presence in the country following the withdrawal of ground troops.
I don’t think we’re going to solve this problem in weeks. This is going to be a long-term project
On creating a political environment where Sunnis feel they are able to live comfortably alongside Shiites:
Changing that environment so that the millions of Sunnis who live in these areas feel connected to and well served by a national government, that’s a long-term process
Third airdrop on Sinjar
Central Command says the military has made its third airdrop over Mt. Sinjar. A C-17 and two C-130s carry out the mission, bringing the total American assistance to around 40,000 Yazidi minority Iraqis trapped on the mountain and under ISIS fire to more than 52,000 meals and more than 10,600 gallons of fresh water.
Army retakes Lebanese town
The Lebanese military enters the border town of Arsal and redeploys in security checkpoints following the withdrawal of militants affiliated with ISIS and Al Qaeda branch the Al-Nusra Front who held the town for five days. Thirty-five military vehicles, including two tanks, drive through the northeastern town in the afternoon, heading for the Aqabat al-Mebyaah Army post in Wadi al-Hosn, overtaken on the first day of fighting, as well as Sayadeye and other posts.
‘Buried Yazidis alive’
Iraq’s human rights minister says ISIS buried Yazidi alive in attacks on the town of Sinjar that kill at least 500 of the ethnic minority in the north of the country. Mohammed Shia al-Sudani:
We have striking evidence obtained from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar and some who escaped death, and also crime scene images that show indisputably that the gangs of the Islamic State have executed at least 500 Yazidis after seizing Sinjar. Some of the victims, including women and children were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar.
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.
Indonesian magazine
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Images show a Malay-language ISIS magazine titled Al-Mustaqbal (The Future) apparently being distributed at mosques on the main Java island of Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority country with over 200 million Muslim inhabitants. The magazine is recommended for ‘those who really want to know about ISIS’, and pledges to ‘answer the myriad of questions and the rumours’ circulating about the group. It includes information on ISIS leader al-Baghdadi. Inside pages feature spreads of photographs of ISIS militants in battle, fighters carrying out executions and rows of what look to be the dead bodies of children. Converts apparently spread the group’s ideology via social media and at mosque events. Aji Prase, a resident of Malang city in Central Java province, where a group calling itself Ansharullah Khilafah has pledged allegiance to ISIS:
I was tagged about the establishment [of the group] on Facebook, so my friends and I went [to the mosque]. There was a video screening and a sermon about ISIS. They handed out Al Mustaqbal magazines, brochures and vouchers for fried chicken.
Suspected ISIS militant detained
A Brooklyn judge orders 44-year-old Donald Ray Morgan to be held without bail as the court hears whether he is an ISIS member or has provided material support to the organization. Part of the evidence comprises tweets that he published under the alias Abu Omar al Amreeki during an eight-month stay in Lebanon, swearing allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and referring to himself as a ‘jihadi.’ Arrested at Kennedy Airport on his return to the U.S. and indicted for being a felon in possession of a firearm, he is also accused of brokering deals for military-grade weapons and ammunition in his home state of North Carolina. Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Nadia Moore:
It’s possible that he traffics in guns to people in this organization (ISIS)
Judge:
[His tweets] clearly implied to me that he is trying to go to Syria or Iraq as the next step and trying to be actively engaged.
Iraq statement
From outside his vacation house in Chilmark, MA, Obama gives a statement (full text) on the latest developments in Iraq. He states that US forces have:
successfully conducted targeted airstrikes to prevent terrorist forces from advancing on the city of Erbil, and to protect American civilians there.
He also addressed the humanitarian efforts to help citizens that are stranded on Mount Sinjar without food or water and noted that the US has deployed a USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team to assst:
Some people have begun to escape their perch on that mountain, and we’re working with international partners to develop options to bring them to safety.
19 Lebanese soldiers dead
The Lebanese military confirms that 19 soldiers have died in its battle against ISIS and Al Qaeda affiliate the Al-Nusra Front for the border town of Arsal. At least 60 militants are also dead. Army statement on the most recent death:
Cpl. Suheil Mohammad Dannawi, born in 1987 in Tripoli, north Lebanon, was killed in the battle waged by the Army against terrorist groups in the area of Arsal.
Tweets Nutella pictures
ISIS fighters tweet photos of themselves holding jars of Nutella in supermarkets in an apparent tactic to soften the group’s image. Their supporters respond with a debate on the merits of Nutella. Twitter user Ariane al Britani:
It is very possible that Nutella is responsible 4 the radicalization of Muslims in the West lol.
Unidentified group kidnaps female aid workers
The Italian foreign ministry confirms that two female aid workers have been kidnapped in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. It says contact with Greta Ramelli, 20, and Vanessa Marzullo, 21, is currently ‘impossible.’ Il Foglio newspaper journalist Daniele Raineri of is reported to have been taken hostage along with them but managed to escape, and says that they were abducted on Aug. 1 and taken to the town of El Ismo, west of Aleppo, where they were transported to the home of the head of the local ‘Revolutionary Council’. The kidnappers have yet to be identified but investigators are quoted as saying they believe it is a group that has previously taken Western journalists and activists hostage.
‘U.S. support for Anbar’
The governor of Sunni-majority Anbar province says he has received a pledge of U.S. support, including air power, to help groups in the province fight ISIS, which has control of large parts of the province and is threatening key assets. Ahmed Khalaf al-Dulaimi:
Our first goal is the air support. Their technology capability will offer a lot of intelligence information and monitoring of the desert and many things which we are in need of. No date was decided but it will be very soon and there will be a presence for the Americans in the western area.
Dulaimi is concerned by the militants’ determination to seize control of Anbar’s Haditha dam.
The situation in Haditha, where the dam is, is controlled by security forces and tribes. But the problem is how long can they endure the pressure?
He says the embassy has committed to a presence in Anbar:
I held several meetings since one month ago with the American Embassy and the commander of the central troops all in this regard, and very soon there will be a joint coordination center and operations in Anbar. They gave a promise.
State Department spokesperson to reporters:
We’re having conversations about what it (any security assistance) might look like in the future, but nothing concrete beyond that.