I have long followed with sympathy the plight of the Yazidi people of Iraq and I watched with horror and a heavy heart as the madmen of Islamic State turned its twisted , pitiless hatred on these gentle folk and the genocidal destruction of their families , communities and very cultural.
Crimes against humanity were committed on an industrial scale and the Yazidi people were easy targets for the bullies and worthless losers of Islamic Sate or should that be
” Islamic Failed State” .
Hundreds were killed , fathers and sons separated from their women and children and slaughtered without an ounce of mercy. Their wife’s and daughters enslaved and bought , sold and resold within the slave markets of an Islamic Hell on earth .
Farida Khalaf survived this nightmare ordeal and against all the odds she escaped and was reunited with her mother and surviving brothers in an Iraqi refugee camp .
This is her incredible story
Farida’s Story
In August 2014, Farida was, like any ordinary teenager, enjoying the last days of summer before her final year at school. However, her peaceful mountain village in northern Iraq was an ISIS target as their genocide against the Yazidi people began.
The Catastrophe
ISIS murdered the men and boys in the village, including Farida’s father and brother, and took the women hostage. Farida was one of them. She was held in a slave camp, in the homes of ISIS members and finally in a desert training camp. Continually she struggled, resisted and fought against her captors, showing unimaginable strength and bravery.
This is my Story
Eventually, Farida managed to plot her escape and fled into the desert with five young girls in her care, but defeating ISIS was just the first step in her journey. In this book she tells her remarkable and inspiring story.
Extracts
Reviews
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Farida Khalaf
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Farida Khalaf (born circa 1995) is a Yazidi woman who was abducted by ISIS in 2014 and sold into slavery. She escaped to a refugee camp, and in 2016 published a book about her experience, The Girl Who Beat ISIS.
Khalaf grew up in the village of Kocho in the mountains of Iraq. In 2014, when she was 18, ISIS invaded her village. The jihadists murdered all the men and boys of the village, including her father and brother. Single women and girls, including Farida and her friend Evin, were forced onto a bus at gunpoint and brought to Raqqa, where they were sold into sexual slavery.She was once beaten so badly by her captors that she lost sight in one eye, and could not walk for two months.
The young women managed to escape to a refugee camp in northern Iraq, and Khalaf was reunited with surviving family members. Among members of her community, however, she was seen as having brought dishonor to her family by having been raped. She subsequently moved to Germany, where she hopes to become a mathematics teacher.
My book A Belfast Child : cover and description – Out 30th April .
" Philomena meets Trainspotting, in this incendiary story of bombs and bullets, drugs and trauma, love and family "
Now among other great Warriors in the Majestic halls of Valhalla
Iraqi marksman – nicknamed the ‘sheikh of snipers’ – has died in battle after killing at least 320 ISIS thugs
Abu Tahsin al-Salhi, 63, was killed during a firefight with the terror group.
A MARKSMAN who killed at least 320 ISIS fighters has died in battle.
Silver-bearded Abu Tahsin al-Salhi, 63 — dubbed the Sheikh of Snipers and Hawk-Eye — boasted of slaying a minimum of four a day.
He was famed for his fingerless gloves and chequered scarf as he hunted jihadis on his off-road motorbike.
A video this year showed the Iraqi militiaman tracking a jihadi in his rifle scope and killing him. He said: “Today I gunned down two.
“That’s ridiculous. The minimum for me is four. Now I’m at 320.”
Al-Salhi honed his skills in five wars, going back to the 1973 Arab- Israeli conflict. He died as pro-government forces fought ISIS for control of Hawija in northern Iraq.
The veteran lost his life in battle trying to regain control of Iraq’s Hawija town from ISIS thugs.
Abu Tahsin al-Salhi (1953 – 29 September 2017) was an Iraqi veteran sniper. A volunteer in Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces, he claimed to have killed 320 ISIL members during the Iraqi Civil War, receiving the nicknames “the sheikh of snipers” and the “hawk eye”.
According to al-Salhi, in the Yom Kippur War he was part of an Iraqi brigade fighting with Syria against Israel on Golan Heights. In the Iran–Iraq War, the invasion of Kuwait and the 2003 invasion of Iraq al-Salhi fought on Iraqi side. Around May 2015 al-Salhi joined the Popular Mobilization Forces.
According to al-Salhi, he began fighting ISIL in Jurf Al Nasr (formerly Jurf Al Sakhar) and learned sniper skills from the Russian military. He became stationed in the Makhoul Mountains, northern Iraq, armed with a Steyr rifle
According to the Popular Mobilization Forces spokesman, al-Salhi was killed as he advanced on Hawija in Iraq.
Brainwashed ‘cubs of the caliphate’ shoot prisoners in the back of the head in sickening new ISIS execution video
Shocking video shows young boys carrying out brutal executions in Afghanistan
So-called ‘cubs of the caliphate’ rant at the camera before murdering two ‘spies’
A separate scene shows four adult jihadists shooting three more prisoners
Brainwashed children brandishing handguns shoot prisoners in the back of the head in a brutal new ISIS execution video.
The two boys, both dressed in black, force their captives to kneel in front of them in front of the doorway of a building in Afghanistan.
Footage shows them aggressively pulling back the heads of the two terrified ‘spies’ before the younger of the two jihadists starts ranting at the camera. They then point their handguns at their prisoners and carry out the killings.
The children are so-called ‘cubs of the caliphate’ – the name given to youngsters who have been brainwashed with ISIS ideologies and trained to fight and kill for the terror group.
ISIS has released several videos, including one earlier this year, showing young children carrying out brutal executions of adults, training with weapons, and pledging allegiance to ISIS.
Last month it emerged that the head of ISIS in Afghanistan was killed in a raid carried out by Afghan and US special forces, the country’s president said.
Abdul Hasib died during an attack by 50 US special forces and 40 Afghan commandos overnight on April 27, President Ashraf Ghani said.
How the Islamic State Attracts,
Coerces and Indoctrinates Children to its Cause
Since its declaration of a Caliphate in 2014, the Islamic State (IS) has released a number of publications depicting children participating in rallies, undergoing training, undertaking combat operations and even executing prisoners. Armed groups exploiting children in war zones is nothing new and across Iraq and Syria, many factions have been accused of employing children as spies and messengers to actual soldiers.
However, the scale and sophistication employed by the IS in attracting, coercing, training and indoctrinating children into its cause is particularly noteworthy. Referred to as the “Cubs of the Caliphate” (ashbal alkhalifa), these children are not just a present-day threat on the battlefield, but a potential threat for the future, as the question of what happens to them once the Islamic State is defeated remains.
For armed groups and insurgencies, using children in their operations have
a number of pragmatic benefits: Children often appear less suspicious to security
forces, are easier to indoctrinate and often difficult to fight against for a number
of practical and political reasons.
The IS is certainly aware of these benefits when it includes children in its operations. However, the IS’ motivations for recruiting children extend beyond simple pragmatism. By training children in not only warfare but also ideology, the IS seems to be working towards consolidating its state-building project and making sure that even if its organisation comes to an end, its ideology will persist.
Moreover, although the IS has attracted a number of foreign fighters into its fold, it has consistently failed to attract the loyalty of major jihadist organisations or worldwide grassroots support. The fact that the IS seems to not just train children as soldiers but raise them as a new generation of citizens loyal to its cause supports the notion that it has “given up” on gaining the support of the adult population in the areas it inhabits.
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The purpose of this report is therefore to analyse how the IS recruits children into its cause, whether through forceful means like kidnap and coercion or through means based on enticement to encourage children to join voluntarily. It then looks into the training camps and schools operated by the IS to see how the children are gradually de-sensitised to violence trained in combat and ideology.
How the Islamic State Recruits Children
The IS uses a wide variety of tools to recruit children into its cause, both voluntarily and involuntarily. More often than not, these tools are part of the IS’ wider state-building apparatus and are deployed alongside other projects aimed at the general population in areas it has under its influence. This report has identified four primary sources of underage recruitment for the IS:
• Public Events, Projects and Services
• Enticement and Gifts
• Kidnapping and Forced Recruitment
• Children of Islamic State Supporters
• Public Events, Projects and Services
As a result of the Syrian Civil War and the US occupation of Iraq and the subsequent insurgency, many areas across Syria and Iraq have suffered from endemic insecurity, scarcity and unavailability of public services. Under these circumstances, one of the Islamic State’s greatest sources of legitimacy in the areas it controls has been the restoration of security and services in the areas it controls.
The IS is well aware of the propaganda value of such efforts and in the areas it has limited control over or has not consolidated yet, it tends to engage in a “charm offensive” designed towards familiarising the locals with the positive side of the IS. Referred to as Da’wa (“the call”), these events cost the IS little but can build up tremendous grassroots support. Da’wa sessions involve distribution of food and drink, informing the locals about “matters of their religion”, and informing the locals of its policies in a manner that will avoid backlash.
Although aimed at the population as a whole, these events have a specific youth focus due to the IS’ aforementioned long-term planning and its seeming distrust towards
adults. Observers report that in Aleppo, the Da’wa sessions aimed at youth involved competitions and contests with prizes for winners, Qur’an reading sessions, video viewing parties to regale them with “epic battles” and members of the organisation handing pamphlets to children.
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The education sector has been one of the hardest-hit sectors in Syria since the beginning of the civil war, with many schools either damaged by fighting or being used to house refugees. Syria’s pre-war literacy rate of %90 has plummeted and it is estimated that 2.8 million Syrian children are out of school10. The education vacuum has proven ideal recruitment tool for many of the armed groups in Syria, including the IS. The IS has provided shelter and education for many out-ofschool children in the region, grooming them for recruitment in the process.
In areas it has tighter control, the IS has also re-opened schools, instituting a
curriculum that emphasizes religious education and pro-IS ideology12. Although
most Islamic State school activity falls under training and indoctrination (and
will therefore be analysed in the relevant chapter), in a region where there are
few-to-none alternatives for education left, they are also a major source of initial
exposure and recruitment for the organisation.
Enticement and Gifts
The on-going conflicts across Syria and Iraq have not only led to a collapse of security and public services, but also a drastic reduction of incomes and opportunities, forcing many Iraqis and Syrians below poverty line. Just as the case in social services and security, the IS has used its ability to provide jobs and income to bolster its legitimacy, offering incomes, bribes and gifts to those it wants to recruit. Children and youth are no exception. As mentioned above, Da’wa sessions often feature gifts and competitions with rewards for winners attached to them.
However, beyond rewards for winners, members of the IS have been known to offer small gifts (such as toys and sweets) to all children who participate in meet-and-greet events. Children have also been given simple but inclusive tasks (such as waving a flag for a photo) that bolster the sense of belonging among potential recruits.
The IS has employed similar tactics towards older children and teenagers, although appealing to other forms of enticement. Observers in Iraq have noted that especially across Anbar, the organisation have regaled potential recruits with promises of power, status, prestige and revenge against the Shia. Recruiters of the Islamic State had access to luxury goods (such as high-end cars) that would be beyond the reach of an ordinary citizen, tying together notions of prosperity and the Islamic State. Beyond gifts and token rewards, the Islamic State has found cash to be just as viable a recruiting tool.
At the height of its power, the organisation was earning significant funds through the oil trade, taxation, smuggling and looting. This has allowed it to offer its fighters much higher salaries than those of other armed groups or even members of the Syrian or Iraqi militaries. In a region wracked with poverty and lack of prospects, the notion of a steady income alone has driven potential recruits, young and old, to sign up with the organisation.
Reports from the Human Rights Watch indicate that recruits signing up with the
Islamic State are given a Kalashnikov, ammunition, uniform and tied to $100.
Briton Ryan Lock killed himself in Syria to avoid being captured by IS
The British chef, who travelled to Raqqa to fight against IS, wanted to avoid capture or torture at the hands of the terror group.
A British man who travelled to Syria to fight against Islamic State shot himself to avoid a “painful and frightening death”, an inquest has heard.
Ryan Lock, from Chichester, died last December fighting alongside Kurdish forces in Raqqa.
The 20-year-old had only been in the war-torn country for four months, and he died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Mr Lock had been seriously injured in battle and was surrounded by IS fighters when he decided to kill himself to avoid being captured or tortured.
His mother, Catherine Lock, had no idea that her son was planning on travelling to Syria. Instead, she thought he was going backpacking around Turkey.
She said: “He just said that he had planned this for ages and that he had time off work. He said he would be going for a few weeks, maybe a month.
“And when I found out he was going to Turkey I said: ‘You do realise that’s right next to Syria, where there is a war.’
“I hadn’t twigged that was exactly his plan, to head to Syria.”
A day after Mr Lock arrived in Turkey last August, he told his mother that he had signed up to fight for the People’s Defence Units (YPG), a Kurdish military force.
She contacted the police immediately and continued to stay in contact with her son on Facebook Messenger, where he regularly posted pictures of himself during his military training.
Isis recruiter Sally Jones reportedly wants to leave Raqqa and return to Britain
Sally Jones, the leading female recruiter for Isis, reportedly wants to leave Raqqa and come home to Britain. The former punk rocker who married a now-dead Isis fighter and took her son to Syria has been “crying and wants to get back to Britain,” according to reports.
Sky News spoke to an immigrant to the so-called Islamic caliphate now under Kurdish guard in a refugee camp who said that few immigrants wanted to join the war. “Aisha” told Sky News that she knew Jones
When asked if she met many British people, Aisha replied:
“I know one-Umma Hussain al Britani”.
She used Jones’ nom de guerre, according to Sky News. Jones was married to Junaid Hussain, Isis’ chief of digital jihad who was killed by a US drone strike in 2015.
“She lost her husband in battle last year. She had one boy,” Aisha continued.
Jones’ son Jojo was born in the UK and is about 12 years old. The boy’s grandparents and father expressed their fears in 2016 that he had been brainwashed into becoming an executioner for the terrorist group. A chilling video released by Isis shows a group of boys executing five Kurdish fighters.
Aisha said: “She was crying and wants to get back to Britain but Isis is preventing her because she is now a military wife. She told me she wish to go to her country.” Sky News noted that if that is in fact what Jones wants, she will have to be prepared to give up her jihadi recruiting and prepare to exchange life in Raqqa for a lifetime in prison.
Jones reportedly rose up a US kill list back in May, with analysts believing she was behind several Isis terror plots. “Mrs Terror,” as Jones has been dubbed, is reportedly behind more than 10 operations that targeted army personnel and civilians.
Spare a thought for the Coptic Christian’s of Egypt & all Christian minority groups throughout the world in these troubled times. Those who live in lands controlled by the Mad Men of Islamic State & their shameful, demonic worldwide Terrorist Franchise are being killed and slaughtered every-single-day. Sadly the world is so busy and overwhelmed by the never ending Terror on our own streets that we hardly seem to notice.
These mad extremists hate us because in their eyes we are “infidels” and they are consumed by their deluded , twisted , evil ideology , built on hate , paranoia and policed by the dark arts of the wicked Sharia Law.
INFIDEL
ˈɪnfɪd(ə)l/
archaic
noun
plural noun: infidels
a person who has no religion or whose religion is not that of the majority.
“a crusade against infidels and heretics”
The events in Manchester this week has shocked and sicken all decent people the world over and the sad fact is we are now living in a new age off Terrorism , where there are no longer ANY Boundaries , both ethically and demographically and the slaughtered of the most vulnerable and young among us is no longer sacred.
Islamic Extremists seem to permeate & engulf our daily lives and sadly they aren’t going to go away any time soon.
Like many I have shed tears for the victims of this unspeakably evil act and watching their families on the TV and their emotional agony breaks my heart every single time.
Saffie Rose Roussos
The beautiful angelic little Saffie Rose Roussos
The family and I have been down every day to pay our respects and silent contemplation
The victims in Egypt are also victims of this modern curse and my thoughts and prayers are with their families.
We are all “Prey” to these Islamic Monsters and someway , somehow we have to destroy this hate filled twisted ideology and eradicate it and all its followers from the history of the mankind.
Coptic Christian attack:
ISIS claims its ‘soldiers’ opened fire on bus killing 29 in Egypt
An Islamic State affiliate released a video Monday vowing that Egyptian Christians are their “favourite prey,” showing images of a suicide bomber who killed nearly 30 people inside a packed Cairo church in December.
“God gave orders to kill every infidel,”
one of the militants carrying an AK-47 assault rifle says in the 20-minute video.
The video shows footage of Egypt’s Coptic Christian Pope, Christian businessmen, judges and priests who either speak of the need to protect the minority or use derogatory terms to refer to Egypt’s Muslim majority. The narrator says Christians were no longer “dhimmis,” a reference to non-Muslims in Islam who enjoy a degree of state protection. Instead, the group describes the Christians as “infidels” who are empowering the West against Muslim nations.
Abu Abdullah al-Masri
The video shows footage of Abu Abdullah al-Masri, a masked militant who blew himself up at the central Cairo church in December, killing 28 people, most of which were women and children. The attack, says a narrator, was “only the beginning.
“Oh worshippers of the cross … the soldiers of the state are watching you,” another masked militant identified as Abu Zubair al-Masri says.
ISIS claimed responsibility for the church bombing, which was its deadliest attack in Egypt outside the Sinai Peninsula, according to Reuters. Prior to the attack, Abu Abdullah al-Masri had been detained for two months in 2014 before joining Wilayat Sinai, the name of the ISIS branch in Sinai, the Egyptian government said.
Wilayat Sinai has claimed responsibility for dozens of suicide bombings and attacks, mainly targeting security forces and military across the country but primarily in Sinai Peninsula, where the army has been leading an anti-terrorism operation for years.
Coptic people are the largest ethno-religious minority in Egypt. The largest Coptic Christian group in Egypt is the Coptic Orthodox Church with a population of at least 7,200,000 and the second is the Coptic Catholic Church with a population of 161,000
Other estimates of the ethnic Coptic population within Egypt range between 9 and 15 million.
History
President Nasser welcomes a delegation of Coptic bishops (1965)
Under Muslim rule, the ethnic Copts were cut off from the mainstream of Christianity, and were compelled to adhere to the Pact of Umar covenant, thus assigned to Dhimmi status. Their position improved dramatically under the rule of Muhammad Ali in the early 19th century. He abolished the Jizya (a tax on non-Muslims) and allowed ethnic Copts to enroll in the army. Pope Cyril IV, 1854–61, reformed the church and encouraged broader Coptic participation in Egyptian affairs. Khedive Isma’il Pasha, in power 1863–79, further promoted the Copts.
He appointed them judges to Egyptian courts and awarded them political rights and representation in government. They flourished in business affairs.
Some ethnic Copts participated in the Egyptian national movement for independence and occupied many influential positions. Two significant cultural achievements include the founding of the Coptic Museum in 1910 and the Higher Institute of Coptic Studies in 1954. Some prominent Coptic thinkers from this period are Salama Moussa, Louis Awad and Secretary General of the Wafd PartyMakram Ebeid.
In 1952, Gamal Abdel Nasser led some army officers in a coup d’état against King Farouk, which overthrew the Kingdom of Egypt and established a republic. Nasser‘s mainstream policy was pan-Arab nationalism and socialism. The ethnic Copts were severely affected by Nasser’s nationalization policies, though they represented about 10–20% of the population.
In addition, Nasser’s pan-Arab policies undermined the Copts’ strong attachment to and sense of identity about their Egyptian pre-Arab, and certainly non-Arab identity which resulted in permits to construct churches to be delayed along with Christian religious courts to be closed.
Pharaonism
Many Coptic intellectuals hold to “Pharaonism,” which states that Coptic culture is largely derived from pre-Christian, Pharaonic culture, and is not indebted to Greece. It gives the Copts a claim to a deep heritage in Egyptian history and culture. Pharaonism was widely held by Coptic and Muslim scholars in the early 20th century, and it helped bridge the divide between those groups. However, some Western scholars today argue that Pharaonism was a late development shaped primarily by Orientalism, and doubt its validity.
Religious freedom in Egypt is hampered to varying degrees by discriminatory and restrictive government policies. Coptic Christians, being the largest religious minority in Egypt, are also negatively affected. Copts have faced increasing marginalization after the 1952 coup d’état led by Gamal Abdel Nasser. Until recently, Christians were required to obtain presidential approval for even minor repairs in churches.
Although the law was eased in 2005 by handing down the authority of approval to the governors, Copts continue to face many obstacles and restrictions in building new churches. These restrictions do not apply for building mosques.
The Coptic community has been targeted by hate crimes resulting in Copts being victims of murder by Islamic extremists. The most significant was the 2000–01 El Kosheh attacks, in which Muslims and Christians were involved in bloody inter-religious clashes following a dispute between a Muslim and a Christian.
“Twenty Christians and one Muslim were killed after violence broke out in the town of el-Kosheh, 440 kilometres (270 mi) south of Cairo”.
International Christian Concern reported that in February 2001, Muslims burned a new Egyptian church and the homes of 35 Christians, and that in April 2001 a 14-year-old Egyptian Christian girl was kidnapped because her parents were believed to be harboring a person who had converted from Islam to Christianity.
In 2006, one person attacked three churches in Alexandria, killing one person and injuring 5–16. The attacker was not linked to any organisation and described as “psychologically disturbed” by the Ministry of Interior.
In May 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported increasing waves of mob attacks by Muslims against ethnic Copts. Despite frantic calls for help, the police typically arrived after the violence was over. The police also coerced the Copts to accept “reconciliation” with their attackers to avoid prosecuting them, with no Muslims convicted for any of the attacks.
In Marsa Matrouh, a Bedouin mob of 3,000 Muslims tried to attack the city’s Coptic population, with 400 Copts having to barricade themselves in their church while the mob destroyed 18 homes, 23 shops and 16 cars.
Members of U.S. Congress have expressed concern about “human trafficking” of Coptic women and girls who are victims of abductions, forced conversion to Islam, sexual exploitation and forced marriage to Muslim men.
Boutros Boutros-Ghali is a Copt who served as Egypt‘s foreign minister under President Anwar Sadat. Today, only two Copts are on Egypt‘s governmental cabinet: Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali and Environment Minister Magued George. There is also currently one Coptic governor out of 25, that of the upper Egyptian governorate of Qena, and the first Coptic governor in a few decades. In addition, Naguib Sawiris, an extremely successful businessman and one of the world’s 100 wealthiest people, is a Copt. In 2002, under the Mubarak government, Coptic Christmas (January 7) was recognized as an official holiday.
However, many Copts continue to complain of being minimally represented in law enforcement, state security and public office, and of being discriminated against in the workforce on the basis of their religion. Most Copts do not support independence or separation movement from other Egyptians.
While freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Egyptian constitution, according to Human Rights Watch,
“Egyptians are able to convert to Islam generally without difficulty, but Muslims who convert to Christianity face difficulties in getting new identity papers and some have been arrested for allegedly forging such documents.”
The Coptic community, however, takes pains to prevent conversions from Christianity to Islam due to the ease with which Christians can often become Muslim. Public officials, being conservative themselves, intensify the complexity of the legal procedures required to recognize the religion change as required by law. Security agencies will sometimes claim that such conversions from Islam to Christianity (or occasionally vice versa) may stir social unrest, and thereby justify themselves in wrongfully detaining the subjects, insisting that they are simply taking steps to prevent likely social troubles from happening.
In 2007, a Cairo administrative court denied 45 citizens the right to obtain identity papers documenting their reversion to Christianity after converting to Islam. However, in February 2008 the Supreme Administrative Court overturned the decision, allowing 12 citizens who had reverted to Christianity to re-list their religion on identity cards, but they will specify that they had adopted Islam for a brief period of time.
The Egyptian Census of 1897 reported the percentage of Non-Muslims in Urban Provinces as 14.7% (13.2% Christians, 1.4% Jews). The Egyptian Census of 1986 reported the percentage of Non-Muslims in Urban Provinces as 6.1% (5.7% Christians, 0% Jews). The decline in the Jewish representation is interpreted through the creation of the state of Israel, and the subsequent emigration of the Egyptian Jews. There is no explanation for a 55% decline in the percentage of Christians in Egypt. It has been suggested that Egyptian censuses held after 1952 have been politicized to under-represent the Christian population.
In August 2013, following the 3 July 2013 Coup and clashes between the military and Morsi supporters, there were widespread attacks on Coptic churches and institutions in Egypt by Sunni Muslims. According to at least one Egyptian scholar (Samuel Tadros), the attacks are the worst violence against the Coptic Church since the 14th century.
USA Today reported that “forty churches have been looted and torched, while 23 others have been attacked and heavily damaged”. The Facebook page of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party was “rife with false accusations meant to foment hatred against Copts”, according to journalist Kirsten Powers. The Party’s page claimed that the Coptic Church had declared “war against Islam and Muslims” and that
“The Pope of the Church is involved in the removal of the first elected Islamist president. The Pope of the Church alleges Islamic Sharia is backwards, stubborn, and reactionary.”
On August 15, nine Egyptian human rights groups under the umbrella group “Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights”, released a statement saying,
In December … Brotherhood leaders began fomenting anti-Christian sectarian incitement. The anti-Coptic incitement and threats continued unabated up to the demonstrations of June 30 and, with the removal of President Morsi … morphed into sectarian violence, which was sanctioned by … the continued anti-Coptic rhetoric heard from the group’s leaders on the stage … throughout the sit-in.
Events related to Copts
An Egyptian court on February 25, 2016 convicted four Coptic Christian teenagers for contempt of Islam, after they appeared in a video mocking Muslim prayers.
Nearly all Egyptian Christians today are ethnic Copts, adherents of either the Coptic Orthodox Church or other Coptic churches.
Salman Abedi has been named by police as the Manchester bomber
Manchester attack:
The Libya-jihad connection
As each hour passes we learn more about Salman Abedi. What we don’t know yet is his exact journey from Manchester-born boy to suicide bomber.
The BBC has been told by a Muslim community worker that members of the public called the police anti-terrorism hotline about Abedi’s extreme and violent views several years ago.
We don’t know how the police responded to these reported hotline calls – but we have also learnt that earlier this year, Abedi’s behaviour again raised concerns.
According to our sources, he told local people about the value of dying for a cause.
He also made hardline statements about suicide bombings and the conflict in Libya.
The Libyan connection
Abedi’s parents fled Libya as opponents of Colonel Gaddafi’s regime.
Libya, alongside its North African neighbours, has been a centre for the rise of modern Islamist political movements.
These movements were originally dedicated to overthrowing dictatorial regimes and, to varying extents, promoting the idea of Islamic government.
The Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) wanted to overthrow Gaddafi and became the dominant revolutionary force in the country in the 1990s, until the dictator began turning the screw.
Many of those with Islamist connections tried to flee – and many of them were granted refuge in the UK.
Salman Abedi’s father, Ramadan, was part of the broad network of opponents who supported those Islamist anti-Gaddafi aims. He arrived in the UK in the early 1990s.
We have been told by senior LIFG sources that he was not a member of the organisation. But he was known to be a dissident with some of the same political goals.
The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is a militant Islamist group active in Libya under three branches: Fezzan Province (Arabic: ولاية الفزان, Wilayah al-Fizan) in the desert south, Cyrenaica Province (Arabic: ولاية البرقة, Wilayah al-Barqah) in the east, and Tripolitania Province (Arabic: ولاية الطرابلس, Wilayah al-Tarabulus) in the west.
The branches were formed on 13 November 2014, following pledges of allegiance to ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi by militants in Libya
In 2012, one group of Libyans fighting in Syria declared the establishment of the Battar Brigade. The Battar Brigade would later pledge loyalty to ISIL, and fight for it in both Syria and Iraq.
In the spring of 2014, up to 300 Battar Brigade veterans returned to Libya. In Derna, they formed a new faction called the Islamic Youth Shura Council, which began recruiting militants from other local groups. Among the joinees were many members of the Derna branch of Ansar al-Sharia.
During the next few months, they declared war on anyone in Derna who opposed them, killing judges, civic leaders and other opponents, including local militants who rejected their authority such as the al-Qaeda-allied Abu Salim Martyrs Brigade.
In September 2014, an ISIL delegation that had been dispatched by the group’s leadership arrived in Libya. The representatives included Abu Nabil al Anbari, a senior aide to al-Baghdadi and a veteran of the Iraq conflict, the Saudi Abu Habib al-Jazrawi, and the Yemeni or Saudi Abu al-Baraa el-Azdi, a militant and preacher from Syria.
On 5 October 2014, the Islamic Youth Shura Council-aligned militant factions came together and pledged allegiance to ISIL. After the pledging ceremony, more than 60 pickup trucks filled with fighters cruised through the city in a victory parade.
A second more formal gathering involving a larger array of factions took place on 30 October 2014, where the militants gathered to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the city square.
On 13 November 2014, al-Baghdadi released an audio-recording in which he accepted pledges of allegiance from supporters in five countries, including Libya, and announced the expansion of his group to those territories.
He went on to announce the creation of three “provinces” (wilayah) in Libya: Wilayah al-Fizan (Fezzan in the desert south), Wilayah al-Barqah (Cyrenaica in the east), and Wilayah al-Tarabulus (Tripolitania in the west). The three wilayahs in Libya represent statelets, meaning they are a governates that hold territory and operate like a state.
Attacks and Expansion across Libya
Current military situation (as of 7 December 2016)
When founded, ISIL claimed a presence in al Bayda, Benghazi, Sirte, al-Khums, and the Libyan capital Tripoli. The Cyrenaica branch of ISIL had around 800 fighters and half a dozen camps in Derna’s outskirts. It also had larger facilities in the Jebel Akhdar area, where North African fighters were trained.
In December 2014, ISIL recruiters in Turkey told their Libyan associates to stop sending fighters to Syria and to focus on domestic attacks, according to the Wall Street Journal. In the following weeks, ISIL carried out attacks against oil installations and international hotels, performed mass executions and attempted to take over further Libyan territory.
On 30 March 2015, Ansar al-Sharia‘s general Shariajurist Abu Abdullah Al-Libi pledged allegiance to ISIL, a number of the group’s members defected with him.
The city of Sirte had been loyal to Muammar Gaddafi and suffered massive damage at the conclusion of the 2011 Civil War, later becoming home to militant Islamist groups like Ansar al-Sharia. ISIL formally announced their presence in Sirte in early 2015, driving a parade of vehicles through the city and declaring it part of their caliphate. Ansar al-Sharia split over how to respond, with most of their members joining ISIL.
The group reportedly recruited many locals, former Gaddafi supporters alienated from the post-war political order in Libya, after they “repented” and pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi. They were quickly able to take over much of the city.
ISIL implemented their harsh interpretation of Sharia gradually, first focusing on building loyalty and allegiance from the tribal society of Sirte. In August 2015 Islamic codes of dress and behaviour began to be enforced more strongly and punishments like crucifixions and lashings began to be carried out.
There was an uprising against ISIL in Sirte in the same month, with members of the Ferjani tribe, Salafists and former members of the security forces attacking ISIL forces. ISIL brought in reinforcements from outside of Sirte and the uprising was swiftly defeated, with media reports claiming dozens or hundreds of Sirte residents were killed after the fighting.
ISIL began to solidify its rule in Sirte, increasing its state building efforts and using it as a base to expand its territory. ISIL fighters from Sirte took over the neighbouring towns of Nofaliya, and Harawa during this period.
They also seized control of Ghardabiya Air Base and important infrastructure like power plants and part of the Great Man-Made River water irrigation project. By early 2016, there were an estimated 1,500, mostly foreign, fighters in the city, and Vice Admiral Clive Johnstone, commander of NATO’sAllied Maritime Command, warned that ISIL militants aspired to build a maritime arm that could carry out attacks in the Mediterranean Sea against tourist and transfer ships.
The group suffered reverses in other parts of Libya during this period, including in Derna, Benghazi, and Sabratha. In June 2015, clashes erupted in Derna between ISIL and the rival Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna supported by the Libyan Air Force, which caused heavy casualties on both sides and led to ISIL forces being driven out of their strongholds in the city the following month.
In November 2015, a US air strike killed ISIL’s leader in Libya, Abu Nabil al Anbari. He was succeeded by Abdel Qader al-Najdi.
In early 2016, the Khalifa Haftar-led Libyan National Army, reportedly with the assistance of French Special Forces, captured parts of Benghazi that had been held by ISIL for months. In February 2016, a U.S. air strike targeted an ISIL training camp near Sabratha, killing more than 40 people including the Tunisian ISIL member Noureddine Chouchane, linked to the 2015 Sousse attacks, as well as two Serbians who had been kidnapped by ISIL in 2015.
In December 2016, following a 7-month long battle, ISIL was cleared from Sirte by Libyan Forces, with assistance from air strikes by the United States. The group withdrew to desert areas south of Sirte, and began mostly low level attacks on Libyan forces and local infrastructure. In January 2017, U.S. airstrikes on an ISIL base 25 miles southwest of Sirte reportedly killed over 80 militants.
Foreign fighters
Libyan intelligence chiefs claimed in early February 2016, that the Islamic State is recruiting fighters from Africa’s poorest nations, including Chad, Mali and Sudan. ISIL offers generous salaries compared to the average wages in the region. Many of the fighters reach Libya using existing people-smuggling routes used by African migrants heading to Europe.
Propaganda
The “Media Office for Cyrenaica Province” has published photos and other material showing buildings with ISIL insignia, suicide bombers, parades, and pledges of allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. A reporter for The New York Times who visited the outskirts of Sirte found that ISIL had taken over the local radio station, and all four stations on the dial were being used to transmit Islamic sermons.
ISIL in Libya had threatened to facilitate the arrival of thousands of migrants to destabilize Europe if they are attacked.
Laws
Billboards instructing women how to dress according to ISIL’s interpretation of Sharia were erected in Sirte in July 2015. The billboard gave a list of restrictions on dress for women.
“Instructions on wearing the hijab according to Sharia
It must be thick and not revealing
It must be loose (not tight)
It must cover all the body
It must not be attractive
It must not resemble the clothes of unbelievers or men
It must not be decorative and eye-catching
It must not be perfumed.”
Human rights abuses and war crimes allegations
By late 2014, Derna was fully under ISIL control, with the Black Standard flying over government buildings, police cars carrying ISIL insignia, and the local football stadium being used for public executions. A Human Rights Watch report accused ISIL linked groups in control of Derna of war crimes and human rights abuses that include terrorizing residents in the absence of state authorities and the rule of law.
Human Rights Watch documented 3 apparent summary executions and at least 10 public floggings by the Islamic Youth Shura Council, which joined ISIL in November 2014. They also documented beheadings of three Derna residents and 250 seemingly politically motivated assassinations of judges, public officials, members of the security forces, journalists, and others with no public investigations. Sarah Leah Whitson, HRW Middle East, and North Africa director said,
“Commanders should understand that they may face domestic or international prosecution for the grave rights abuses their forces are committing.”
Under ISIL’s watch, women increasingly wore face veils and young men caught drinking alcohol were flogged. Education changes included male/female segregation of students, and the removal of history and geography from the curriculum. New Islamic religious police flyers ordered clothing stores to cover their mannequins and not to display “scandalous women’s clothes that cause sedition.” The law school was closed.
Claimed and alleged attacks
In November 2014, ISIL’s Cyrenaica wing claimed it had previously dispatched nine suicide bombers from Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia to carry out attacks against Libyan security forces in and around Benghazi. CNN reported that several of these attacks seemed to correspond to previously unclaimed suicide bombings, including a twin-attack on a Libyan special forces camp in Benghazi on 23 July 2014 and a 2 October 2014 attack on a military checkpoint near Benina airport.
Cyrenaica Province is the prime suspect in a 12 November 2014 suicide bombing in Tobruk that killed one and wounded 14, and a bombing outside Labraq air force base in Al-Bayda that killed four, according to a CNN report.
On November 13, bombs exploded near the embassies of Egypt and the UAE in Tripoli, however no casualties were reported. An ISIL-linked Twitter account suggested their Tripoli wing was responsible for the attacks, according to the SITE Intelligence Group.
In December 2014, the beheaded bodies of Mohammed Battu and Sirak Qath, human rights activists abducted in Derna on 6 November 2014, were found.
In January 2015, the group’s Cyrenaica branch published photos claiming to show the execution of two Tunisian journalists who had been kidnapped in September 2014.
On 27 January 2015, an attack on the Corinthia Hotel in Tripoli involving gunmen and a carbomb killed at least ten people, including five foreigners. The group’s Tripoli branch claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming it was revenge for the death of Libyan al-Qaeda operative Abu Anas al-Libi in American custody earlier in the month.
On 3 February 2015, gunmen claiming to represent ISIL stormed a French-Libyan oil field near the town of Mabruk, killing nine guards.
On 15 February 2015, ISIL released a video showing the beheading of 21 Christian Egyptians who had been kidnapped in Sirte. ISIL’s Dabiq magazine had earlier published photos of the Copts and threatened to kill them to
“avenge the kidnapping of Muslim women by the Egyptian Coptic Church”.
On 20 February 2015, the group carried out bombings in Al Qubbah, which targeted a petrol station, a police station and the home of the Libyan parliamentary speaker, killing at least 40 people.
ISIL claimed responsibility for a 24 March 2014 suicide carbombing that killed five soldiers and two civilians at an army checkpoint in Benghazi.
A 5 April 2015, ISIL’s Tripolitania branch claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing on a checkpoint outside Misrata, which killed four and wounded 21.
On 13 April 2015 militants claiming loyalty to ISIL posted claims of responsibility on Twitter for a bombing outside the Moroccan embassy that caused no casualties, and a gun attack on the South Korean embassy the day before that killed two guards.
On 19 April 2015 a video was released online by ISIL showing the killing of approximately 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya. 15 of the men were beheaded, and another group of the same size were shot in the head.
On 27 April 2015, the bodies of five men with slit throats were found in the Green Mountain forests. The bodies were identified as five journalists working for a Libyan TV station who had been kidnapped at an ISIL checkpoint in August 2014.
On 9 June 2015 US government officials confirmed that ISIL in Libya had captured 86 Eritrean migrants south of Tripoli.
On 10 June 2015, ISIL gunmen in Derna killed Nasser Akr and Salem Derbi, two senior commanders of the Al Qaeda affiliated Shura Council of Mujahideen in Derna.
On 7 January 2016, ISIL carried out a truck bomb attack against a police training center in Zliten, killing at least 60 and wounded around 200.
On 25 February 2016, ISIL fighters in Sabratha took control of a security headquarters, killing and beheading 12 security officers before being driven out the next day.
Commentary and significance
The growth of its branch in Libya is seen by ISIL and its proponents as a model for ISIL expansion outside Iraq and Syria.
The Long War Journal wrote that no well-established Libyan militant organizations had pledged their support to the group and that “the Islamic State has failed, thus far, to garner the allegiance of Ansar al Sharia Libya, which is notorious for its role in the Sept. 11, 2012, terrorist attacks in Benghazi and remains one of the most powerful jihadist organizations in eastern Libya.
None of Ansar al Sharia’s allies in the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council, the Islamist coalition fighting General Khalifa Haftar‘s forces for control of territory, pledged allegiance to Baghdadi. The Islamic State has supporters in Libya, particularly among the jihadist youth. But other groups are still, by all outward appearances, more entrenched.”
Libya Dawn claimed that it had intelligence reports showing that those who claimed to support ISIL in Tripoli were agents provocateur planted by foreign countries to discredit it. The statement was viewed as an attempt to explain away the growing issue of the extremists in western Libya, with ISIL supporters said to be present at the Majr camp in Zliten, and in Sabratha.
Islamic State are taking a battering and slowly slowly these mad dogs are being brought to their knees and hopefully its only a matter of time before we eradicate this stain on humanity once and for all and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is rotting in the eternal flames of hell.
Because Karma has been a witness to his madness and Karma always collects its debts!
SOUTHWEST ASIA–(ENEWSPF)–March 14, 2017 — U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.
Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.
Strikes in Syria
In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 12 strikes consisting of 20 engagements against ISIS targets:
Near Dayr Az Zawr, six strikes destroyed eight wellheads, four pump jacks and three oil tanker trunks and damaged two pump jacks and a wellhead.
Near Raqqa, six strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed four fighting positions, an ISIS-held building, and a vehicle; and damaged two supply routes.
Strikes in Iraq
In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted eight strikes consisting of 84 engagements against ISIS targets, coordinated with and in support of Iraq’s government:
Near Haditha, a strike destroyed three improvised bombs.
Near Mosul, five strikes engaged four ISIS tactical units; destroyed 27 fighting positions, three rocket-propelled grenade systems, two vehicle bombs, an artillery system, a mortar system, a heavy machine gun, a road block, a vehicle and a vehicle bomb factory; damaged 12 supply routes; and suppressed five ISIS mortar teams and two ISIS tactical units.
Near Tal Afar, two strikes engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroyed an ISIS-held building and damaged three supply routes.
Part of Operation Inherent Resolve
These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group’s ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said.
The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted.
Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said.
The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target.
Unlike their coalition partners, and unlike previous combat operations, no name was initially given to the conflict against ISIS by the U.S. government. The decision to keep the conflict nameless drew considerable media criticism.
The U.S. decided in October 2014 to name its military efforts against ISIS as “Operation Inherent Resolve”; the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) news release announcing the name noted that:
According to CENTCOM officials, the name INHERENT RESOLVE is intended to reflect the unwavering resolve and deep commitment of the U.S. and partner nations in the region and around the globe to eliminate the terrorist group ISIL and the threat they pose to Iraq, the region and the wider international community. It also symbolizes the willingness and dedication of coalition members to work closely with our friends in the region and apply all available dimensions of national power necessary—diplomatic, informational, military, economic—to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL.
The Defense Department announced at the end of October 2014 that troops operating in support of Operation Inherent Resolve after 15 June were eligible for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. Service areas are: Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as troops supporting the operation in the Persian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea east of 25 degrees longitude. The medal is approved retroactively beginning 15 June, the Pentagon said.
By 4 December 2014, three U.S. service members had died from accidents or non-combat injuries.
2015
On 22 October 2015, a U.S. Master Sergeant, Joshua L. Wheeler, was shot dead when he, with about 30 other U.S. special operations soldiers and a peshmerga unit, conducted a prison break near Hawija, in which about 70 hostages were rescued, five ISIS members were captured and “a number” were killed or wounded.
The Kurdistan Regional Government said after the raid that none of the 15 prisoners it was intended to rescue were found.
2016
As of 9 March 2016, nearly 11,000 airstrikes have been launched on ISIS (and occasionally Al-Nusra), killing over 27,000 fighters and striking over 22,000 targets, including 139 tanks, 371 Humvees, and 1,216 pieces of oil infrastructure. Approximately 80% of these airstrikes have been conducted by American forces, with the remaining 20% being launched by other members of the coalition, such as the United Kingdom and Australia. 7,268 strikes hit targets in Iraq, while 3,602 hit targets in Syria.
On 12 June 2016, it was reported that 120 Islamic State leaders, commanders, propagandists, recruiters and other high-value individuals were killed so far this year.
Until March 2016, U.S. military members were ineligible for Campaign Medals and other service decorations due to the continuing ambiguous nature of the continuing U.S. involvement in Iraq. However, on 30 March 2016, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced the creation of a new medal, named “Inherent Resolve Campaign Medal“.
On 16 June 2016, AV-8B II+ Harriers of the 13th MEU flying off the USS Boxer began airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria the first time the U.S. Navy has used ship-based aircraft from both the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf at the same time during Operation Inherent Resolve (aircraft from the USS Harry S. Truman began airstrikes on IS targets from the Mediterranean on 3 June).
As of 27 July 2016, U.S. and coalition partners conducted more than 14,000 airstrikes in Iraq and Syria: Nearly 11,000 of those strikes were from U.S. aircraft and the majority of the strikes (more than 9,000) were in Iraq. Of the 26,374 targets hit, nearly 8,000 were against ISIS fighting positions, while approximately 6,500 hit buildings; ISIS staging areas and oil infrastructure were each hit around 1,600 times. On 15 December 2016, the UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said that :
“more than 25,000 Daesh fighters have now been killed,” a number that is half of the United States’ estimate.
When asked about this discrepancy, the UK’s Ministry of Defense said that it stood by his estimate.
Since the first U.S. airstrikes on ISIS targets in Iraq on 8 August 2014, over two years, the U.S. military has spent over $8.4 billion fighting ISIS.
2017
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, U.S.-led Coalition airstrikes have killed 7,043 people across Syria, of which: 5,768 dead were ISIL fighters, 304 Al-Nusra Front militants and other rebels, 90 government soldiers and 881 civilians. The air strikes occurred in the period between 22 September 2014 and 23 January 2017.
In March 2017, various media outlets reported that conventional forces from the 11th MEU deployed to Syria to support US-backed forces in liberating Raqqa from ISIS occupation. The deployment marks a new escalation in the U.S. war in Syria.
As of Feb. 28, 2017, the U.S.-led air coalition has conducted 3,271 sorties in 2017, 2,129 of which have resulted in at least one weapon released. In total, the coalition released 7,040 weapons in Iraq and Syria in this same time period in an effort to destroy ISIS.
U.S. and coalition forces are training Iraqi forces at four sites: in al-Asad in Anbar province, Erbil in the north, and Taji and Besmayah in the Baghdad area.
This is one of the most horrifying and disturbing books I have ever read and the fact the Daniel survived his captivity and the constant physical and mental torture at the hands of these barbaric ISIS terrorists – is testimony to the depths of suffering man can endure when faced with almost insurmountable odds and utter despair .
The book gives a brutal insight into the barbaric and inhumane cruelty of ISIS’s merchants of death and exposes the psychopathic wickedness of the British IS cell known as “The Beatles “ and their total disregard for the safety and welfare of those they were holding in captivity. All released hostages stated that these Monsters were the most brutal and harsh IS members whose job was to guard them and Jihadi John inflicted the worse misery and cruelty on those he watched over.
Jihadi John
Thankfully Karma has now caught up with this B*****d and he is now burning in the eternal flames of hell!
Four of the freed hostages – Federico, Daniel, Pierre and Didier
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The ISIS Hostage
In May 2013, freelance photographer Daniel Rye was captured in Syria and held prisoner by Islamic State for thirteen months, along with eighteen other hostages. The ISIS Hostage tells the dramatic and heart-breaking story of Daniel’s ordeal and details the misery inflicted upon him by the British guards, which included Jihadi John.
This tense and riveting account also follows Daniel’s family and the nerve-wracking negotiations with his kidnappers. It traces their horrifying journey through impossible dilemmas and offers a rare glimpse into the secret world of the investigation launched to locate and free not only Daniel, but also the American journalist and fellow hostage James Foley.
Written with Daniel’s full cooperation and based on interviews with former fellow prisoners, jihadists and key figures who worked behind the scenes to secure his release, The ISIS Hostage reveals for the first time the torment suffered by the captives and tells a moving and terrifying story of friendship, torture and survival.
Reviews
Buy the Book
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ISIS Hostages
Foreigners held captive with Daniel by ISIS and their fate
Iraqi soldiers carry coffins containing the remains of ten of their comrades who were killed in Camp Speicher massacre.
Salahuddin – (IraqiNews.com) High Commission for Human rights announced on Wednesday pulling bodies of 25 victims of the massacre of Camp Speicher from Tigris River in Tikrit, and pointed out that it is keen to reveal the crimes, genocides and violations committed by the Islamic State extremist group.
The Commission said in a press release, “The commission followed the information about the discovery of a mass grave in al-Kosour area in Salahuddin province, and it held a number of meetings with the concerned authorities to open graves and pull the remains of martyrs from the Tigris River.”
“These efforts allowed the divers of River Emergency Directorate to pull the bodies of 25 victims of Camp Speicher massacre and handed them to Salahuddin Police Directorate,” the release explained.
The commission also renewed its condemnation of the dangerous violations committed by ISIS terrorist gangs, including genocides and crimes against humanity, and emphasized its humanitarian and national role to serve the Iraqi people.
On 12 June 2014, the Islamic State extremist group (ISIS) killed at least 1,700 Shia Iraqi Air Force cadets in an attack on Camp Speicher in Tikrit.
“Some of the chief officers of the camp ordered the cadets to have a rest for 15 days and to go to their families, with civilian clothes. While they were walking on the highway looking for a bus to take them near Baghdad. Then two buses being driven by Ayman Sabawi Ibrahim, the son of Saddam Hussein‘s half brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Tikriti, stopped near them with 10 armed men inside of them.
They told the cadets that they were from the Arab tribes of Tikrit, and told them to follow them until they find buses to get them to Baghdad. Instead, several buses with ISIS members in them kidnapped the cadets and brought them to the Al-Qusour Al-Re’asiya region (The Presidential Palaces), where they committed the massacre.”
Several survivors assured that their head officers in the camp forced them to leave it.
Peter Bouckaert, the emergencies director for Human Rights Watch, stated
“The photos and satellite images from Tikrit provided a strong evidence of a horrible war crime that needs further investigation. [ISIS] and other abusive forces should know that the eyes of Iraqis and the world are watching”.
The HRW also said that ISIS posted on its websites many videos and photographs showing how they beheaded, shot, and choked the victims while they celebrated.
The photos show masked ISIS fighters tying up the cadets and loading them up on trucks, with other photographs showing ISIS fighters executing dozens of the cadets while they are lying down. ISIS propaganda videos show them shooting at hundreds of lined up men in mass graves in the desert. Some cadets faked their death, covering themselves with blood and lying down to escape at night.
Survivor Ali Hussein Kadhim told his story to the New York Times following his escape from the massacre.
The Islamic State released the videos, as part of their propaganda video titled ‘Upon the Prophetic Methodology’. The cadets are seen to be cramped upon trucks, some of them wearing civilian clothes to hide their actual military uniform. Most of them lied on the ground, with their jeans stripped to reveal camouflages underneath. Some of the prisoners were forced to decry Iraq’s prime minister, others forced to say ‘Long Live the Islamic State’. Some of them lined up as a cadet was bashed with a rifle. The executions vary, from shooting them one by one to shooting them while lying down many times to ensure death.
The minister of defence, Sa’dun al-Dulaimi, stated that the massacre wasn’t sectarian in nature. although, the spokesman of the Iraqi Armed Forces, Qasim Atta, stated that there are almost 11,000 cadets and soldiers missing from Camp Speicher, he also stated that thousands were executed in near the Presidential Palaces, al-Bu Agail region and the Badoush prison by sectarian violence.
On 2 September, more than 100 members of the families of the killed and missing cadets and soldiers broke into the Iraqi Parliament and hit three of the security guards. After a day, a session started in the parliament with the attendance of representatives of the families and Sa’dun al-Dulaimi, along with other military officials to discuss the massacre.
On 16 September, the Kurdish Asayish arrested 4 people suspected to be involved in the massacre in southern Kirkuk. An unnamed security source stated:
“The operation was executed by relying on intelligence information to arrest them.”
On 18 September, the Iraqi Human Rights ministry stated that as of 17 September, the total of missing soldiers and cadets was 1095, denying the most popular figure of 1700 soldiers having been killed. The ministry added:
“The ministry relied in its statistics on spreading forms on the families of the missing people in Baghdad and the other Provinces within its quest to document the crimes and violations that the terrorist group of the Islamic State is committing towards our people.”
The Iraqi government ordered to pay 10,000,000 IQD (equivalent to US$8,600) to the families of the missing cadets.
Following the Iraqi forces’ victory over ISIS in Tikrit in early April 2015, mass graves containing some of the murdered cadets were located and the decomposed corpses began to be exhumed.
Two of the alleged perpetrators of the massacre were arrested in Forssa, Finland, in December 2015. The suspects were identified from ISIS propaganda videos in which the executions of 11 men took place. Police did not disclose whether the men had made applications for asylum in Finland.
In August 2016 thirty-six men were hanged for their part in the massacre.
On 6 September 2016, mass graves were found by the Kata’ib al-Imam brigade containing the remains of over 30 people killed in the massacre.
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Justice ?
Of the 600 people wanted by Iraqi authorities in connection with the massacre, only 24 people have been convicted so far.
In July, a group of 28 men went on trial in Baghdad over the Camp Speicher killings, all but four of the men were given death sentences, with the remainder acquitted for lack of evidence.
The sentencing was greeted by cheers from the families of victims present, with many shouting “God is Great” and “Ya Hussein”, in reference to a revered Shia figure.
Belfast Child 