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Iraqis launch airstrikes against ISIL
[Iraq Sun] Iraqi government forces carried out ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... . The myrmidon group seized several cities from the Iraqi army this week in a move that has caused alarm across the world. Analysts say the myrmidons' advance has called into question the future of the Iraqi state. Fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are within 100 kilometers of Storied Baghdad, having taken control of several towns and cities in northern Iraq in recent days. Iraqi army units have abandoned their posts and fled ahead of the myrmidons' advance. But speaking Thursday, Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, insisted that ISIL forces had been halted north of the capital. "The situation started to be reversed and the Iraqi security forces have managed to re-organize and to push them back," said Zebari. ISIL grew out of al-Qaeda in Iraq. Their stated aim is to create a single Sunni Islamic state across the region. In an audio recording Thursday, ISIL front man Abu Mohammed al-Adnani called for fighters to continue the march to Storied Baghdad. They are a battle-hardened force, says Shiraz Maher of the International Center for the Study of Radicalization at Kings College London. "It's really their experience in Syria that has allowed them to generate this head of steam. Foreign fighters came from all over the world to join that conflict. Overwhelmingly they joined ISIL. Now that group has enjoyed a revival in terms of men, money and munitions," said Maher. Tens of thousands of Iraqi troops abandoned their posts and fled. Loyalty to Storied Baghdad and to the Iraqi state is weak, says Shiraz Maher. Posted by: Fred 2014-06-14 |
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