[IraqiNews.com] An estimated 1,700 Russians have joined the ISIS group to fight in Syria and Iraq, General Sergei Smirnov, deputy chief of Russia's FSB Intelligence Agency was quoted by AP on Saturday.
General Sergei Smirnov, deputy chief of the Federal Security Service
... the successor to the KGB...
(FSB), said: "Nearly 1,700 Russian nationals have joined the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group to fight in Syria and Iraq," pointing out that, "The actual figure is likely to be even higher."
Smirnov also added that the majority of Russians who are fighting alongside the ISIS group are coming from North Caucasus region, including places like Chechnya and Dagestan, where there are many extremist sleeper cells.
Coalition warplanes kill 20 ISIS militants near Biji’s oil refinery
[IraqiNews.com] On Saturday, a security source in Salahuddin province said, that 20 ISIS elements have been killed in an air strike by the international coalition near Biji oil refinery.
The source told IraqiNews, "Warplanes of the international coalition conducted an air strike against ISIS Death Eaters near Biji's oil refinery in north of Biji (40 km north of Tikrit)," noting that, "The air strike resulted in killing 20 ISIS Death Eaters and destroying 3 vehicles for them."
The source who requested to remain anonymous, added, "The coalition's warplanes carried out air strikes on ISIS headquarters and gathering sites in the area of al-Mallaha, located in south of Biji," without mentioning further details over the casualties.
Peshmerga forces cleanse 20 thousand square kilometers, says Barzani
[IraqiNews.com] President of Kurdistan
Massoud Barzani... hereditary head of the Kurdish Democratic Party, maybe a little too close to the Medes and the Persians for most people's tastes...
announced on Saturday, that the parliamentary Kurdish Peshmerga forces have cleansed about 20 thousand square kilometers from terrorists, and that great sacrifices have been made in the war against terrorism.
According to a statement received by IraqiNews.com, Barzani said during a meeting with the German deputy DM Marcos Korbel, "The Peshmerga forces managed within a few days to cleanse about 20 thousand square kilometers from terrorists," while expressed gratitude for the people and the German government for their support to the Peshmerga forces.
Barzani added, "Kurdistan has made great sacrifices in the war against terrorism. We constantly face new challenges and we have to prepare for the defense to protect our citizens from the threat of murderous Moslems."