Forced out of Tikrit
Iraqi forces regain control of northern section of Tikrit, an important city held by ISIS since June 2014. Security official:
Iraqi security forces and the different supporting groups are winning the battle against ISIS in Saladin, it is a matter of time and we will release the news of taking over Tikrit within few days.
Blows up army headquarters
ISIS kills forty Iraqi soldiers by blowing up more than three hundred explosives placed under army headquarters at Anbar, Iraq. Sabah Karhoot, chairman of the region’s governing council :
ISIS militants were digging and planting IEDs under an HQ of an Iraqi army while the security forces knew nothing about it
Jake Bilardi dies in suicide attack
Bilardi blows himself up in a suicide attack in Iraq. Tony Abbott, Australia’s prime minister:
This is an absolutely horrific situation. It’s very, very important that we do everything we can to try to safeguard our young people against the lure of this shocking, alien and extreme ideology.
Pledges allegiance to ISIS
Boko Haram pledges allegiance to ISIS. In an audio message posted online, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau:
We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims … and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease, and to endure being discriminated against, and not to dispute about rule with those in power, except in case of evident infidelity regarding that which there is a proof from Allah
Militants attack Libyan oilfield
Islamic State affiliate militants behead eight Libyan guards and kidnap nine foreigners in an attack on al-Ghani oil field. Libya’s military spokesman, Ahmed al-Mesmari on Islamic State militants’ goal to take over Libya’s petroleum industry:
This is the lifeline of the Libyan people. The consequences of such a loss would be dire.
Claims ISIS membership
In an interview with WXIX-TV, Cornell claims he is a member of ISIS.
I’m with the Islamic State. I’m very dedicated to establish [sic] the Sharia in America, to wage war on the kafr (an Islamic term for ‘unbeliever’) and raise the word of Allah above all…I got orders from the brothers overseas because I’m with the Islamic State. My brothers over there, in Syria and Iraq, gave me specific orders to carry out jihad in the west, so I did so.
Cornell says he spoke with other ISIS members via an encrypted messaging service. They spoke about how they should raise Jihad in America and how they should go about forming sleeper cells.
What do I think is coming? Many things. There will be many, many attacks. Like I said, we are ready for the battle over the Capitol…We are pretty strong. Yes, yes. In every state like I said. We’re in Texas. We’re in Ohio. We’re in New York City. We’re in Washington, DC. We’re in every single state you can name, just about.
Destroys ancient city of Nimrud
ISIS militants bulldoze the ancient Iraqi city of Nimrud in a fresh attack on country’s cultural and historical heritage. Jack Green, chief curator of the Oriental Institute Museum at the University of Chicago:
It’s the deliberate destruction of a heritage and its images, intended to erase history and the identity of the people of Iraq, whether in the past or the present
Iraq launches offensive against ISIS
The Iraqi army with the help of some Shia militant groups launches an operation to clear ISIS from Tikrit, hometown of former dictator Saddam Hussein. The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think-tank:
The Shia militias participating in the operation to retake Tikrit are highly motivated to deal a counterblow in this symbolic area
Releases 19 Christian hostages
0 CommentsISIS releases 19 Assyrian Christians who were among the 220 people captured last week in northeastern Syria. Bashir Saedi, a senior official in the Assyrian Democratic Organization:
16 men and three women returned safely Sunday at the Church of the Virgin Mary in the city of Hassakeh. All of them from the village of Tal Ghoran and had traveled by bus from the Islamic State-held town of Shaddadeh south of Hassakeh.
Identified
Jihadi “John” is identified as Emwazi. Close friend:
I have no doubt that Mohammed is Jihadi John. He was like a brother to me. . . . I am sure it is him.
Asim Qureshi, research director at the rights group, CAGE:
There was an extremely strong resemblance. This is making me feel fairly certain that this is the same person.
The Washington Post reports no comment from U.S. officials. Emwazi’s family decline a request for an interview, citing legal advice.
Kidnaps villagers
ISIS abducts Christians from the villages in north-eastern Syria, along the banks of the Khabur river near the town of Tal Tamr in Hassakeh province where Assyrians inhabit the area. Activist group:
During the raids, the militants took between 70 and 100 Assyrians captive. 3,000 people had managed to flee the onslaught and sought refuge in the cities of Hassakeh and Qamishli.
Warplane not shot down
The U.S. military dismisses a claim that ISIS shot down a jet piloted by a Jordanian airforce pilot, and confirms the group has taken the pilot captive. CentCom statement:
Evidence clearly indicates that ISIL did not down the aircraft as the terrorist organization is claiming. We strongly condemn the actions of ISIL, which has taken captive the downed pilot
We will support efforts to ensure his safe recovery, and will not tolerate ISIL’s attempts to misrepresent or exploit this unfortunate aircraft crash for their own purposes.
The Jordanians are highly respected and valued partners and their pilots and crews have performed exceptionally well over the course of this campaign.
Turning churches into torture chambers
ISIS is reported to be turning Christian churches into torture chambers and stripping the former places of worship of ancient relics, which they are smuggling to Western collectors to help fund their terrorist activity. Christians are being held captive in make-shift torture chambers set up in raided churches in Qaraqosh. Jerusalem Post report:
This is why they are crucifying Christians — which includes children — destroying churches and selling artifacts. ‘The reality is, this group will stop at practically nothing to raise funds for its terrorist mission.
Captures pilot
The group captures the Jordanian pilot after his plane crashes in Syria while carrying out airstrikes. He was in an F-16 and was able to eject. He is the first foreign fighter to fall into the militant group’s hands since the bombing campaign began several months ago.
‘A lot more dangerous than Western leaders realize’
German journalist and author Juergen Todenhoefer says ISIS is “more dangerous” than people realize after travelling deep into ISIS territory in both Syria and Iraq. Todenhoefer tells CNN he spoke with several ISIS fighters, as well as a prisoner.
I think the Islamic State is a lot more dangerous than Western leaders realize. They believe in what they are fighting for and are preparing the largest religious cleansing campaign the world has ever seen.
Threatens to use nuclear bomb in London
ISIS followers claim that they have assembled a dirty bomb from 40kg of uranium they found at Mosul University in July. One militant tweets about the impact the group anticipates if they were able to detonate it in London:
[..] terribly destructive
There is not further information on how ISIS would transport the weapon to the UK or if they have developed a viable bomb, however Iraq’s ambassador to the UN states that this could be considered the group having developed a weapon of mass destruction.
Says she hasn’t been kidnapped
Rosenberg, a Canadian-Israeli joint citizen who served in the Israel Defense Forces before volunteering to fight for a peshmerga division against ISIS, posts a message on her Facebook account to say that she is fine and has not been captured despite ISIS reports:
Guys, I’m totally safe and secure. I don’t have Internet access or any communication devices with me for my safety and security. I can’t reply regularly and only happened to have a chance to log in and see these bu*****t news stories. Ignore the reports I’ve been captured.
The Daily Mail reports that sources in the Kurdish militia also confirm she is unharmed and was not captured.
Peter Kassig beheaded
ISIS releases a video showing the beheading of a dozen Syrian soldiers that ends with a militant standing over a severed head he says belongs to Kassig. U.S. officials said they are working to determine the video’s authenticity. The main militant has a British accent (although the video appears to have been distorted to hide the speaker’s identity) and warns that U.S. soldiers will meet a similar fate.
We say to you, Obama: … You claim to have withdrawn from Iraq four years ago. Here you are: You have not withdrawn. Rather, you hid some of your forces behind your proxies.
The militant claims Kassig was killed because he “fought against the Muslims in Iraq, while serving as a soldier”. Kassig’s family says it is awaiting the outcome of the investigation.
The family respectfully asks that the news media avoid playing into the hostage takers’ hands and refrain from publishing or broadcasting photographs or video distributed by the hostage takers. We prefer our son is written about and remembered for his important work and the love he shared with friends and family, not in the manner the hostage takers would use to manipulate Americans and further their cause.
Order to start minting currency
Al Baghdadi gives the order via an affiliated website to start minting gold, silver and copper coins for the Islamic dinar, to ‘change the tyrannical monetary system’ modeled on Western economies that ‘enslaved Muslims.’ Photos of coin prototypes show that they are printed with the words in Arabic:
The Islamic State / A Caliphate Based on the Doctrine of the Prophet.
It’s unclear where ISIS intends to get the gold, silver and copper. The Islamic dinar’s purchasing power is its weight in gold, silver or copper. One gold coin has a map of the world, indicating that Islam will rule the world. A silver coin has a picture of the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, where Mohammed prayed, and the gold-topped Dome of the Rock, from which Muslims believe that he ascended into heaven. Other coins feature designs that are significant in Islam.
Ground troops considered
The Pentagon says it is considering modest numbers of ground troops to fight alongside Iraqi forces. Joint Chiefs chairman Dempsey to the House Armed Services Committee:
I’m not predicting at this point that I would recommend that those forces in Mosul and along the border would need to be accompanied by U.S. forces, but we’re certainly considering it
The statement comes after Baghdadi releases an audio recording saying that the air campaign has failed.