Islamic State of Iraq and Syria

By RFE/RL | – Human Rights organizations warn that the Islamic State (IS) extremist group has targeted minority communities in Iraq in a “systematic strategy to remove them permanently” from large parts of the country. In a report launched on February 27, four nongovernmental organizations detailed summary executions, forced conversions, rape, and other abuses suffered […]

History

ISIL militants destroy Humankind’s heritage of Civilization from Ancient Iraq

contributors

RT | – The Islamic State has posted a video online showing a group of militants destroying ancient statues and other artifacts, saying they are symbols of idolatry. Some of the objects date from the seventh century BC. Specialists say the damage is incalculable. The video, which appeared online on Thursday, shows monuments and relics […]

Assyrians

Syria: Daesh/ ISIL takes 150 Christians Captive as 3,000 flee to Hasaka

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – Al-Nahar (“The Day,” Beirut) reported that dozens of Assyrian Christians have been abducted by Daesh (ISIL, ISIS) in Hasakah Province, northeast Syria. Reuters later put the number at 150. The abduction occurred after heavy fighting by Kurdish YPG commandos that included allied Christian fighters versus Daesh attackers in […]

Gulf

Report: Attacks on Iraqi Women are a War Tactic

contributors

By Leila Lemghalef UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – Iraqi women continue to be subject to physical, emotional and sexual violence, according to a new report by Minority Rights Group International and Ceasefire Centre for Civilian Rights. No Place to Turn: Violence against women in the Iraq conflict concludes that attacks on women – conducted by both […]

Egypt

Egypt: Sisi’s struggle with the Muslim Brotherhood and his Strikes on ISIL/ Daesh in Libya

contributors

By Henry Clements | (Informed Comment) – Egyptian president Abdel Fatah El-Sisi wants to rally the international community against terrorism in the Middle East. In a televised speech earlier this week he asserted, “Egypt and countries across the world are facing a fierce battle with terrorist organizations that adopt extremist ideology and share the same […]

Christianity

Holy War: How Bill O’Reilly & Daesh/ ISIL Share The Same Goal

contributors

Cenk Uygur | (The Young Turks) “Bill O’Reilly stated definitively, multiple times tonight, that he believes the United States and the world are in a “holy war” against ISIS and the White House needs to accept that fact. He said, “This is now a so-called holy war between radical jihadists and everyone else, including peaceful […]

Iraq

Just when you thought they Couldn’t be Worse: ISIL trafficking Human Organs

contributors

RT | – The Islamic State is harvesting human organs to finance its blood-driven caliphate, according to Iraq’s ambassador to the United Nations, urging its Security Council to investigate the issue. Envoy Mohamed Alhakim called on the 15-member body to look at allegations of organ removal by the Islamic State (formerly ISIS) as bodies with […]

Featured

Today’s Top 7 Myths about Daesh/ ISIL

Juan Cole

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) – The self-styled ‘Islamic State’ Group (ISIS or ISIL), the Arabic acronym for which is Daesh, is increasingly haunting the nightmares of Western journalists and security analysts. I keep seeing some assertions about it that strike me as exaggerated or as just incorrect. 1. It isn’t possible to determine […]

Iraq

Iraq: Sunni Sheikh Killed trying to Mediate between Shiite, Sunni Extremists

contributors

By Erin Evers | (Human Rights Watch) In Latifiyya, a small town 20 miles south of Baghdad, fighting has been raging since long before the armed conflict that erupted when the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) took over Mosul. For at least two years state security forces and government-backed militias have been battling Sunni […]