...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really 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 western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
(ISIS
...embracing their inner Islamic Brute...) Lions of Islam and ISIS-affiliated families inside within its borders after they escaped Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) prisons in Syria, Yehia Rasool, Iraq’s defense ministry spokesperson, told Rudaw English on Thursday.
Some ISIS Lions of Islam sneaked across the border and were detained in Anbar province over the last two days. It is not clear how many ISIS Lions of Islam entered Iraq and Rasool declined to say how many have been caught.
"Iraqi forces with the help of the Iraqi intelligence department have detained a number of ISIS Lions of Islam inside Iraqi territory during the last two days," Rasool said. "The ISIS Lions of Islam have sneaked into Iraq after they escaped prisons in Syria."
"Iraqi forces are stationed on the Iraqi-Syrian border line to prevent further ISIS Lions of Islam from entering Iraqi territory," Rasool added.
Iraq is worried about the threat from ISIS Lions of Islam detained across the border after
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
launched its Operation Peace Spring last week, aimed at clearing northern Syria of Kurdish forces and resettling up to three million Syrian refugees from Turkey.
At least 750 ISIS affiliates escaped SDF-held Ain Issa camp after
Iraqi Defense Minister Nijah al-Shimari visited the Iraqi-Syrian border on Wednesday to inspect the security situation.
"Iraqi minister of defense has visited Iraq-Syrian border areas in Nineveh and Anbar [provinces] to check up on the security situation on the Iraqi-Syrian border line," his ministry stated in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
The day before, the ministry announced it had deployed additional troops to reinforce the border.
ISIS Lions of Islam have stepped up their attacks on the SDF’s southern flank in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces, taking advantage of Turkey’s onslaught to the north.
The International Crisis Group warned that Turkey’s offensive, coupled with instability in Iraq, could enable a resurgence of the terror group.
The Pentagon has stated that ISIS is attempting to expand its influence over populations in Iraq’s Sunni-majority provinces north and west of Baghdad, and has reorganized its leadership and established safe havens in rural Sunni-majority areas.
"ISIS is rebuilding in remote territory, which is hard for Iraqi forces to secure," read a report from the Pentagon Inspector General covering April to late June. ISIS is "able to recruit in these areas using family and tribal connections."
ISIS seized control of swathes of territory across in Iraq 2014. The group was declared defeated by former Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi in December 2017. However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried...
remnants of the group have returned to earlier insurgency tactics.