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Mosul Humvees land in Hasaka

CREATING A CALIPHATE: The Islamic State in Iraq and a-Sham […]


12 June 2014

Humvee_2.jpg

CREATING A CALIPHATE: The Islamic State in Iraq and a-Sham (ISIS) has begun transferring weapons captured in Iraq to Syria following the extremist group’s sudden seizure of the Iraqi city of Mosul Tuesday.

Numerous photos and videos shared on Twitter showed dozens of trucks full of weapons and ammunition, as well as US-made Humvees, arriving in the eastern Syrian province of Hasakeh.

On Tuesday, Chechen ISIS leader Omar a-Shishani, who previously led ISIS efforts in Aleppo, was pictured smiling as he examined a US-made Humvee.

Shishani_hummer_2.jpgISIS leader Omar a-Shishani examined a  Humvee captured from Mosul, Iraq.  Photo courtesy of @P_VanOstaeyen.

 “In addition to many US-made HMMWVs, small-arms (M16 & M4 rifles), ISIS has seized several 155mm M198 howitzers + helicopters, mortars,” Brookings analyst Charles Lister wrote on Twitter Thursday.

Meanwhile, Iraqi website a-Sumeria reported Iraqi troops had withdrawn from the Syrian-Iraqi border to fortify Baghdad, where a curfew has been put in effect as ISIS combatants announce their intent to advance on the city.

On Tuesday, when ISIS took Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, they also seized the province’s military airport, numerous police stations and the hundreds of individual weapons left behind by the American-funded Iraqi army.

Since, the extremist group has seized Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, Baiji, the nation’s largest oil refinery, and parts of Salah a-Din province, among other advances. Iraqi media reported Thursday morning that Iraqi troops had temporarily halted ISIS’s advance, repelling the group in a-Samara and, reports say, retaining Tikrit.

-June 12, 2014

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